The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken

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This poem is about the choices you make in life and the outcome. I think this poem was created to show people that every choice you make has a different out come so you should approach them differently.

Robert Frost tells us in the poem “The Road Not Taken” that man is unclear about his destiny and life after death. No one has returned to this world after death.

He declares it going on a path that leads through thick forest that cannot let anyone understand the direction and ultimate end of it. Yellow signifies the wood as valley of death from where no one returns or has returned. He says that he found two roads going through it. One of them was much used and the other was less used. He preferred the second one. Its condition guided him that very few people went on this path and had no stamp of evil black foot on it.

This shows that the poet wanted to opt the way where righteous, brave and unmatched people trod by. The time proved that the same was befitting for his personal life.

I studied this poem when I was in the 9th grade. I understand it better now that I am grown, and married with children of my own. I became a mother at a young age. I choose the right road. I am thankful that I did. I loved it then at the age of 13, and now at the age of 25 I love it even more now. I hope that this poem brings smiles, and light into more lives than just mine.

We are studying poems in school and we enjoy this website VERY much. We LOVE Robert Frost and read this poem VERY VERY OFTEN!!!! We enjoy it very much and are sad because Robert is not alive these days so we can enjoy many more poems we wish he had to offer. (: -Bailey Powell & Emily Beck

We like this poem because it tells you how to make a good decision. It’s telling you to keep your head high and don’t always follow the crowd. I found this poem to be very descriptive. If someone is sad, they could read it and feel better.

These words confirm my belief that “There are no wrong decisions in life – only different choices”. In honouring the spirit of Robert Frost’s poem a entirely new perspective of the world became available to me.

The man is not only refering to decisions made in life but a choice as to where the decision will take you in life. Such as do I do something the easy way for the same results but only to have the result of your decision taken or lost because you took the past of least resistence. Just my 2pennies.

i really like this poem in our advanced english class my teacher mrs.rikard wanted us to do a bilography for a poem so we chose robert frost i wanted to chose edgar allen poe but lauren allen doesnt like him but i do because his poems are alot darker so yeah adrianne gomez says hi to everyone!!!!!!!!!

In life we have many decision to make, ofcourse our decisions affect our futre. This poem depicts usually when someone is faced with making a decision they tend to take the easier path so to speake, those who take the more austere path typically have great sence of accomplishment. In conclusion this poem does a prodigious job at personifying and adding sightful imagery to making decisions in real life.

A person during his life needs to take some decisions: simple or decisive ones. As shown in this poem, the traveler takes a decision; maybe some factors or conditions forces him/her to do so. Sometimes, a person takes a decision in spite of his self dissatisfaction.

Well, seems people’s life is full of choices which might cause confusion. That’s why he said”A momentary stay against confusion”. Maybe poetry is his way of “stay”. But what does “momentary” mean? Like in this poem, finally, no matter what you think, you will choose one of roads and confusion of this phase could over.

OK, whoever said this is about Bin Laden – Frost wrote this in 1916! Wrong century, bud. The poem itself was not supposed to be as quipped as it is – it was an elegy to a friend of Frost’s whom he walked with, and who always griped about the paths that they might have walked on instead. When the poem was published, however, people though it was about personal choice and didn’t understand the references. Even the friend didn’t see who Frost based it off of. But now you know . . .

Robert FROST really giving some information form his poem i found some lesson from his poem if you dont know where the way go then the way can lead you where it go really i like. Im new reader of this side im from MOUNT COUNTRY NEPAL ILOVE POEM

Robert Frost explains how he follows the path which is less traveled and creates his own future. Using both imagery and abstract ideas, Frost emphasizes on how he only has myself to rely on to succeed in his dreams. Friends were not a major priority to him, his main priorities were only his parents and his wife, Elinor Miriam White.

In life we have many decision to make, and ofcourse our decisions affect our future. in this poem Robert Frost uses imagery and places two roads in front of a traveler, showing that in life we will have to make choices.In this poem one of the choices was easier than the other and thats what happens in life some times it looks so easy just to take the easy way but in the end the harder way pays off two

This poem was very interesting.
it tells you that you have two decisions in life. You can always take an easier way out but it wont turn out the way you wanted to end or you can choose the harder way but it just might turn out the way you want.

In this poem I think that Frost is trying to say that throughout life we are usually at a crossroad of difficult decisions. No matter which way you choose you should back up your decision with confidence. He uses imagery to get his point across.

To me this poem has a very good message. I would say Robert Frost is saying that when people choose their own path in life and don’t follow the crowd they will get much more out of life. If we take the “road less traveled by” it may be more difficult but in the end we will get much more out of it. He uses good imagery of the two roads and it gave me a better visual and made the poem more interesting.

Often in life we are confronted with making decision, some big others small. This poem depicts that usually when someone is faced with making a decision they tend to take the easier path so to speak, but those who take the more austere path typically have a greater sense of accomplishment. In conclusion this poem does a prodigious job at personifying and adding sightful imagery to making decisions in real life.

I’m not sure if Frost means the ways in our real life, but what i would love to say that, political makers should take and follow the right path in thier ruling time in the governments. You would say that it’s not lnking with what he says, but politically we make a lot of decisions not recognising the situation that they are in, this poem in my opinion is showing the challenges facing those politicians to follow a righ route, not being hurtled makers of decisions, and think twice before doing that, after that, they regret what they have made!!
Actually, Life is like a rose if you touch it smoothly you will get and taste the beauty, but if you touch it hardly, you’ll be hurt.
I think Frost wants to justify the hardness of life and show us the way of happiness to be satisfied people in our life..

I wish that my explaination is jusstified.
Thank you so much for Frost for every thing and poems.

i think this poem is saying that in life we are faced with tough decisions and of course, we have to make a choice about which way to go, like the fork in the road, they are the two options he has which are layed out in front of him. one way may be the easier option but not always the best, yet it seems most people are attracted in that direction because it takes less effort. the other is the harder way, but the better way. so, perhaps Frost is saying that if you take ‘the road less travelled’, you will find greater contempt than if you took the road that had been worn away… hahaha, i have no idea what i just said…!!! too much procrastinating has destroyed my working brain!!

Forgive me if I am completely misplaced because it has been quite some time
since I last visited American Literature–and Robert Frost.

However, I sense that many commentators here have overlooked some revealing
and specific language Frost intentionally employed in this poem. As a
result of this oversight, these commentators have too strongly asserted
that Frost mocked romantic ideals of nastalgia and life.

Clearly, there exists a potential argument that Frost may have been
offering a caliber of criticism and satire. For example, the suggestion
that we could save the first road for another day: “Oh, I kept the first
for another day!” However, this is a flawed argument because it is possible
to revisit a life-altering decision. In fact, many have altered the course
of their lives in midstream by revisiting decisions. To offer contemporary
example, a mother in her mid-40s earing a college degree after dropping out
of highschool at the age of 17. Clearly, this typ of example was less
available in the 19th century, yet others examples of “second choices” did
exist–such as accumulating a fortune in ranching or mining. Still other
examples exist. Therefore, it is possible that Frost may have implicitly
offered this “Reality Americana” to reader–and not cynically dismiss the
idea that a revisiting of a life-altering decision was impossible.

Furthermore, to strongly assert that Frost is cynically criticizing those
romanic idealists who at times enjoy nastalgic recollections, or believe
they can travel 2 roads in life is misplaced. By offering this sentiment,
the argument sustains a very difficult position of explaining away Frost’s
last sentence: “And that has made all the difference.” Without doubt, it is
a vulnerable argument to convey that Frost communicated cynicism and
mockery of romantic ideals when at the crescendo of his poem he produces
the most romantic of all notions–to engage in probably the most personally
challenging of life-trajectories. According to Frost, this engagement
seemed to matter the most, and offer the greatest of sattisfaction.

To be sure, it is a difficult endeavour to explanin why Frost applied this
sentence to his peom without accepting that he was embracing a romantic and
old American ideal of hard work, perseverance, and sattisfaction in
challenging oneself. Unless the position is advanced that Frost simply and
universally misled readers with romanic works while fevershly mocking life
and choice, it must be accepted he was celebrating the moment of
life-altering choice, and the decision to pursue the more unique life path.
Without doubt, if the assumption that the more unique life-road is more
unique because it is more difficult, Frost is also celebrating hard work
and the decision to engage in this work

The position that Frost simply and universally misled readers with romanic
works while fevershly mocking life and choice is possible, but unlikely. In
fact, Frost specifically reveals that he will probably never return to this
divergence because life will not avail him the opportunity: “Yet Knowing
how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back.” If Frost was
mocking life and our inability to exercise choice by offering romantic
words and notions, it is once again difficult to explain why he specfically
indicates he will not be capable of returning to this divergence. This
specific assertion seems to suggest that he is not hiding a message–that
he is forthright and transparent. Otherwise, it would seem Frost would have
concealed this inability to return to the divergence. The fact he clealry
asserts this inability weakens the notion that he is mocking life and the
availability of choice (and perhaps free will)–as if somehow implying we
have no choice.

Clearly, Frost states he is incapable of a return to the divergence because
of the vigors of life. For this reason, it seems readers should be slightly
more literal and less symbolic in analyzing Frost if the assumption is
accepted that he is employing some degree of consistency. Clearly this
assumption makes sense: a poet’s message often reflects consistency.
Indeed, a poet would probably not write of God and then alter paths
midstream and write of the culture of ants. The poet would continue writing
of God. In short, and with the application of this logically parallel
example, Frost is offering his feelings freely and transparently–thus the
argument for hidden and symbolic mockery is not there.

There is little doubt, Frost forthrightly offers his perspective on the
choices of life in The Road Not Taken. Frost specifically asserts the
poem’s narrator (perhaps Frost himself) is at a difficult position in life,
and a life-altering decision is necessary. He analyzes both options with
depth, and realizes he will not sustain a second opportunity to produce
this choice. After careful deliberation, the narrator chooses a trajectory
that is relatively less employed. This lesser relative employment perhaps
infers that it is a more difficult journey. Yet, in the end, Frost suggests
that this relatively unique trajectory (and perhaps more difficult
endeavour) offered him the greatest of sattisfaction probably due to not
only its uniqueness, but its challenges as well: “And it has made all of
the difference.”

i like this poem a lot….but people need top stop saying,’ it’s about’ you can only say that if robert frost told you himself! say,’i think it’s about’. i know i have a lot of ideas but for all i know he could be writing about which type of tomato sauce to buy for the dinner!! okay obvisouly it’s not quite like that but you get my point…..
love it!!!
one of my english coursework poems…one of my faviourtes and i’m always coming up with new meanings every time i read it……

In the poem nothing gold can stay is a very short but meaningful poem. he
uses the line: “Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour,” to show
that in the begging of something that you are doing seems so right and the
good thing to do but sometimes when u get to know the thing you are talking
about it isn’t what you thought it was. The main point of this is that
things start off as plan but towards the end it is the total opposite from
what you thought it would be

The poem tells us that there are two kinds of road in life and we have the freedom to choose which way to take. But oftentimes, we choose the easier way which usually leads to damnation. Choosing the other will give us ultimate happiness and satisfaction.

wHEN FOR THE FIRST TIME I RADE THIS POEM I FELT TAHT IM READING SOMETHING THAT FIRST TIME TOUCHED MY HEART I WAS VERY NERVOUSE AT THAT TIME BUT BY READING THIS POEM I FELT SOMETHING GOOD AND BETTER Mr.ROBET FROST IS THE GREAT POET OF AMERICA I HAVE READ MANY POEMS WRITTEN BY HIM

The first time that I was reading Robert Frost poem The Road Not Taken was because of an English class that I was taking and what made it worse was that I had to memorize the poem. After memorizing the poem I liked it and I understand what frost was saying. In life we must take more changes in life.

The Road not taken is filled with irony and paradox, the ideas may be contradictory, yet it is reasonable. Making the wrong decisions is always the easiest way out and it is the way that most people choose. The moral decisions are harder, and it is the less chosen. Every person wants the easy way out. The great thing about doing the right way is that you learn and doing the right thing causes long term happiness. Just as the American society, we always try to do things the easy way as we try to fix the world, however these things only give more problems. “Two Roads diverged in wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference. ”The paradox of this poem is the road being less traveled by, is the road to life. The road traveled by the most is the road of death. The path to death is easy, but deadly. The path to life is hard, but it is fruitful.

I think the poem is great it made me really think about how in life you usually have two roads and must decide on which one to take. I love things like that because it really makes your mind start thinking about yourself and the decisions you’ve made.

I believe that Frost feels lonely. He talks about how he looks down the road in both directions and sees nothing all the way down to the bend in the road. Frost is using his poetry to express his feelings in real life.

This is a poem by Robert Frost that can be interpreted in many ways. There is an ambivalence in interpreting the poem and in recognizing the writer at a place in life in which a decision is being made. It is not specified whether or not the journey is a spiritual one or whether the journey is simply about life direction, but I think it is about both. Sometimes in life the choices we make will have consequences and impacts, but in taking a risk we will be able to arrive at a place of achievement or enlightenment, and that in order to arrive anywhere the path we take may be as important as the place we end up at.

In this poem, it seems as if Robert Frost is talking about when in life, you have the choice to go one of two ways, not knowing what the outcome of both are, it is a tough decision. No matter which road you choose to take, you will always be curious as to know what would have been, if you had taken the other path. It is better to not stay in the past, but to look to the future, because you cannot change the past. So it does not matter whether or not the other road would have been a better choice.

In the poem nothing gold can stay is a very short but meaningful poem. he uses the line: “Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour,” to show that in the begging of something that you are doing seems so right and the good thing to do but sometimes when u get to know the thing you are talking about it isn’t what you thought it was. The main point of this is that things start off as plan but towards the end it is the total opposite from what you thought it would be.

carl sandburg is known for writing about the true meaning of life. In this essay Chicago it shows how fast pace and rugged this city is and how everyone wants to blame other people for the problems in the city. He depicts the city of being fast pace and that he isnt enjoying it. Maybe he wants to get out of Chicago and into a new city and find out what real happiness in life is all about

In the poem, The Road Not Taken, I think that Frost is writing about what a lot of us wonder about in life, what would of happened if we took the other road? Frost chooses the path that a leader would take, not a follower. He seemed like he ended up choosing the right path and was very happy in the end.

In this poem the author explanes that he had seen two paths and took the one that looked nicer because, he had thaught that many people had travled on it.near the end he relized that both paths were the same and i it realy matter what one he choosed. In the end the one he took was the one that many did not travel on.

The traveler had a choice to make in which path to follow, as we often do in life. He knew he was not going to be able to follow both roads so he based his decision on not following the crowd. He was very pleased with his choice and lived a happy life not regretting anything. He showed courage by doing what he thought best for himself and not letting the pressure of others influence his choice.

This poem is written by Robert Frost, and shows that in life you may have many obstacles in your way and you have to make certain decisions based on facts or gut feelings. If you end up making a decision that is not right for you then you cannot turn back and have to live with it, but something good may come of it. Things come your way for you to learn and gain knowledge from. With every wrong turn you make, you learn more about life and whats right for you specifically.

This poem shows that Richard was a normal appearing man to most everyone and had a lot of money. When he went home he was depressed and would hide his inner feelings. The author uses words to make you almost feel sorry for richard.

what this poem says is that you can make choices in life, but once you made a choice you can not go back on your decision.Robert Frost says that he picked the road less traveled on. In life you often look back on decisions but if you go with what you feel you should feel confident about the “road you take”

This poem not only applies to nature, but also to life in general. It describes the ups and downs in life
pretty well. I also remember this poem from the book the “Outsiders.” It shows that good moments sometimes don’t last as long as they should.

For me this poem show the need to be openminded as with most of his poems it can be looked at differently by optomistic people. Frost does not tell us whether his outcome was good or bad rather I believe he wishes for us to think upon and decide for ourselves.Also he creates a sense of finality which shows that he knows he is not able to go back and accepts this as a part of life.

This poem has showed me that its not a road that you have to take necessarily. It can also be the choice that you make like making a good decision or a bad one. There is always the path that you want to take but then there is the one that can inter fear and contort your decision. This poem has truly opened my eyes to making a good choice on where my life is headed.

This poem is very inspiring. It explains the decisions that you decide to take in your life. You always have to make choices. If you choose to take the harder path, then you will get more out of it, unlike everyone else that usually takes the easy path.

I think that this poem is saying that we are free to choose but dont know what we are choosing between. The title suggests anticipation of remorse. It is “The Road Not Taken” which sounds a little strong.

The poem “The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost to me expresses individuality and imagination. In the poem, Frost speaks of a road with 2 paths to choose at one point, but this also occurs many times in life when you ask yourself if you should do what everyone else is doing, or try out something else. Frost’s poetry was not like anyone elses, and i think in this poem he wants us to be the same way.

in the poem “Chicago” by Carl Sandburg, Sandburg illustrates all the bad things and flaws of the city chicago. He tells of how the city is corrupted simply because it is full of corrupted people. There are prostitutes luring the simple minded farm boys and there are gangsters getting away free with murder. He tells about how chicago is far from a Utopia which is the generalization that everyone has when they go there. People think that because it is such a big business and it is the meat packing industry of the world so everyone has the idea that it is the city of opportunity. Carl Sandburg shows people through the poem what Chicago really is.

in the poem “The Oft-Repeated Dream” by Robert Frost, he uses personification to give the tree life like characteristics. In the poem only one of the two children is afraid of the tree but it is in her dream. She thinks the tree is trying to open the latch to the window of the room where it can get in. He uses simile when he compares the tree to a little bird at the window sill staring at the mystery of the glass.

“Chicago” by Carl Sandberg demonstrates Sandberg’s respect and possible fear of the city of Chicago. His use of apostrophe in this poem really brings it to life. The use of adjectives also creates strong imagery and reflection of Sandberg’s outlook on the city.

The poem “I Carry Your Heart” by e.e. Cummings is short but sweet. It expresses his deep love for someone or something. The Last stanza and the last line rhyme. This creates an emphasis on the end of the poem, which in my opinion, is the most important part of the masterpiece.

The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost is a poem that consists of strong imagery and interesting diction. It ties in nature with individuality. When Frost states that he took the road less traveled it reflects his thoughts of individuality. Frost thinks that those who choose their own path and are not swayed by the decisions of others are the most successful.

The poem “i carry your heart with me” by E.E. Cummings is saying how much someone cares for someone and that they can’t be without that person and care very much for them. No matter where they are they will always be with him because, he carries thoughts of that person with him all the time.

The poem “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost seems like the author has a lot of mixed feelings and doesn’t know what he wants to say. In this poem I think he is trying to say that there are some mean people in the world who would be like fire and the nice people would be like ice. So he is hoping the world will end in ice.

The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost seems like a confused person to me. Saying that he does not know which road to take, or what is best for him. I think this poem can apply to a lot of people and how they feel about life never knowing which way is good for them.

I believe that this poem is all about making life choices. I also believe that when Frost was writting this poem “The Road Not Taken” he means the road or choice that most people dont take when making choices. The road that nobody takes is the road that most people wish they could have taken.

I believe that this poem is all about making life choices. I also believe that when Frost was writting this poem “The Road Not Taken” he means the road or choice that most people dont take when making choices. The road that nobody takes is the road that most people wish they could have taken.

This poem seems to illustrate that once someone takes a certain road or path, there’s no turning back, although that someone might change paths or future later on, they still can’t change the past. By knowing this, this poem reminded me the story “The Great Gatsby” . In the story, although Gatsby chose certain path or road that changed his life, but he still can’t change his past.

This poem tells the story of the poet who is traveling on a road in a wood when he comes upon a fork in the road and, even though he would like to travel both, he has to make a choice.The important thing to learn from The Road Not Taken is that one must follow his or her own way in life and not follow the path that other people have taken before. Taking the road less traveled by is taking a risk, but ultimately could turn out to be a decision that one would not regret.

Everyone in life has to make decisions whether or not they pick the right way to go. Everything happens for a reason. We may pick one way because our gut feeling tells us to or the other way because you want to experience something. And if you make the wrong choice you shouldn’t get all upset becuase of it but use it to your advantage, learn from it. In the poem “The Road Not Taken” he realizes that he took the wrong road. He has chosen to take the green path for which no one has been through, and found out that it was the wrong way to go. He can’t go back into the past to change his decision of what path to take but next time he will know what to do.

The poem The Road Not Taken is all about choices one makes in life. We decide our own fate by the choices we make everyday, big or small. The metaphor of this poem is that you can either chose a path that has been taken many times, or the one that has never been taken before.

This poem contain the form of four stanzas of five lines.The rhymes are strict and masculine, with exception of the last line. The poem is ironic and symbolic, which reflected choices we have to make in our life.

I really like the message portrayed in this poem, that taking the road less traveled can lead to great things. Sometimes we have to make a difficult choice or make the choice with the greatest risk in order to recieve our greatest rewards. I also love the image that Frost’s words bring to mind, taking the road that “wanted wear” for example, evokes an image that the path holds mysteries unlocked only by the reader’s imagination and also evokes the idea that the path will try to please the traveler to the best of it’s ability. Although the last line concludes the poem quite appropriately it lets the mind explore the aftermath of the traveler’s choice and imprints a kind of curiosity in the mind that will not rest until you make the choice that could change your life or take the road less traveled in order to lead you to greater things.

The poem “The Road Not Taken” symbolizes the choices we have to make in life. We can either take the path that everyone else takes, or we can choose to take the path that is rarely taken. The path that most people take might not be the right one, but many people are too afraid to take a risk. In the poem the man takes the green path, but then he realizes that he made a wrong turn and decides to take the other road ( the road not taken, hence the name of the poem).

In the poem the Road Not Taken it symbolizes choices one must make in life. The metaphor in the poem is saying that you can take one of two paths, either the one commonly taken or the one never explored. The person in this poem chooses the road never taken, hence the name of the poem.

I believe that this poem is all about making choices in life. We decide or choose a path that we think is better in the long run. In the poem, Robert Frost chose the path he thought was green only to find out that this path was not as green as it seemed at the start. In the same manner, we may choose something we thought would benefit us, only to find out that we made the wrong decision. Frost also said that we can still go back to the other road or that we can choose to change or rectify our mistake but we cannot change the past anymore.

I believe that this poem is all about making choices in life. We decide or choose a path that we think is better in the long run. In the poem, Robert Frost chose the path he thought was green only to find out that this path was not as green as it seemed at the start. In the same manner, we may choose something we thought would benefit us, only to find out that we made the wrong decision. Frost also said that we can still go back to the other road or that we can choose to change or rectify our mistake but we cannot change the past anymore.

“The Road Not Taken”, WAS ABOUT A MAN THAT WAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHOSE THE ROAD HE WANTS TO TAKE,MAKING THE ROADS BECOME A SYMBOLISM OF PATHS IN LIFE ITSELF. HE DEVATES WHICH PATH HE SHOULD TAKE, THE ONE EVERYONE TAKES OR THE ONE THAT NOT MANY HAVE TAKEN BEFORE. THIS RELATES TO MOST OF THE SITUATIONS THAT EVERYONE GOES THROUGH IN LIFE BECAUSE LIFE IS ALL ABOUT MAKING THE RIGHT DESICIONS. AT THE END, HE DESIDES TO TAKE TO ROAD THAT NOT MANY TAKE BECAUSE HE WANT TO FIGURE OUT LIFE BY HIMSERLF WITH THE CONSECUENCES.

In the peom, The road not taken, I believe that the peom is a metaphor to life. There are two routes in life you can take. The easy route or the route less teraveled. If you take you route less taken you will get much much more out of life and experience things that the average person would never get to experience.

I think this poem is about a man who has these two groups of people that he “belongs” to. Then the two groups start fighting. And this man has to chose whose side to be on. He choses one then changes his mind. Then he changes his mind again and decides not to fight. That it’s not worth it.

The Road Not Taken had an emotional impact on me. The poem talking about choosing which path to choose and being uncertain where it leads to, parallels to my life. As a teenager I am going through those same emtotions and also chosing what path I want to follow.

In the poem: “The Road not Taked” the road is a metaphor to life and the decisions that we have to make, becuase sometimes in life the road less taken is the right way to go. The peom uses parrarel strutchure, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th line all begin with “and”.

With this poem the aurthor is metaphorizing the idea of life. In every single day of our life we are in the same position of the man walking on a road until he finds two diffrent way to go on. By choosing which road we should take, we characterize ourself adding particulars that make us unique in the world, and the wilder road u take the more particulare do you get, even if it’s gonna be harder but this is the fun of life.And if u think the way you took wasn’t right just try again!

i believe that this poem is about the different paths and choices a person can make and follow in their life. also that there is a sence of confusion about what paths are right for a person to make and that can only be determined by the person themself.

This poem was about a man’s journey in life. He uses roads to symoblize the choices we have to make. He decided he wanted to take the road that not many other people had taken before. I think he chose this road because he did not want to follow everyone else’s way of life, but instead create his own goals and memories.

You can only make one decision some times. Right or left. Right or wrong. SOmetimes the road less traveled is the right way to go. This is explained in the poem by Frost, called the The Road not Taken.

I read the poem The Road not Taken by Robert Frost and tried to understand what he was saying when he was talking about two roads in his life. I believe the road less traveled was the road that he would have preferred to travel. The roads symbolize people’s journeys in life and the road less traveled symbolizes peoples hopes and dreams of which they have to give up because they dont have the money or resources to travel that road

I think the poem is trying to express that you should’nt always choose the sure way in your decisions, but instead step out and become an individual and choose your own way. Dont always be a follower, be a leader.

This poem by Robert Frost was perfectly portrayed. This poem talks about how there is two ways to go in life, you can take the beaten track that everyone else does or you can find your own unbeaten track so you arent a follower. Frost wants to go his own way he wants to go on that unbeaten track so he does something new and his own way.

i believe that he’s trying to prove that even if most people in your life take a certain path if it doesnt suit you go the other way. Everyone has a fork in the road in thier life at one time, and its just a matter of how you want to deal with it. In other words don’t be a follower, be a leader and lead, to a different kind of happiness in life.

i believe this poem is about a man not knowing which way he wants to take in his life. He is saying once you make a choice you cannot just go down the other road if you know you make a mistake. You live with the choices you make.
:]

In the poem, “The Road Not Taken” written by Robert Frost is about many different things. To start off, I think that this poem is about how people can make decisions that can change their lives forever. Some decisions can be good but can be bad. If the choice you make is bad, you learn from it and grow off of it to make sure you do not make the same mistake again in the future. But, if the decision you make is for the better then that means that you may have already made a bad choice and learned from it and mde the better choice. Lastly, this poem also is about, to me, that people will pick the things they think enhance their personlity and overall better for thier choices for their future. An example of this is a choice in a career, living spaces, or just as simple as what top eat or drink.

I like this poem because it portrays one of life’s biggest lessons- the grass is always greener on the other side. Each time we make a decision between two equally worthy choices, after the fact, we always look to the other choice we did not choose with envy. Another thing it teaches us is to be independant in our decision making and not choose something just because it’s more popular than the other. It’s our life and we should live it the way we want.

The poem The Road Not Taken, i think is about diffrent paths we come along during our lifetime.The choices we make everyday effect our the rest of our lifes forever. God has a certain plan for all of us and he has a set agenda for everyone, so make sure you take the right path.

i believe that he’s trying to prove that even if most people in your life take a certain path if it doesnt suit you go the other way. Everyone has a fork in the road in thier life at one time, and its just a matter of how you want to deal with it. In other words don’t be a follower, be a leader and lead, to a different kind of happiness in life.

This poem makes a statement about life. The character in the poem is taking the path most people do not take; the path less taken. I believe it is saying how we as persons, should not take the road of life most others take, instead travel the way that makes us original and unique. As the poem stated, we cannot travel both.

The question I have is why did many people travel the other road and the one less traveled has practically few users? I think there is something hidden from us by the few who have used the less traveled road. I would choose the road less traveled because of curiosity to know why the others did not come back.

in my eyes bright the reflection of a new beatiful dawn. the water wring between my fingers. like the sweet honey of the bee’s. then i pick a rose with thorns i cut myself but i support. my path was further but i reach one of them.and there is where i found the love and the pain. it takes me time to know that in the world you have to choose between good or bad. my advice is to open your eyes to look depth in life.
by: yaneth Hernandez* it really relates with my poem? some people do some doesn’t

I’m not sure if you’re still wondering, but by saying “how way leads on to way”, Frost explains that whatever road you have chosen will lead to another crossroad, another way. Meaning that the choices we make at the moment eventually lead to more choices, and those second choices depend on the first we made. So that is why we cannot go back and choose something else, we just have to keep going with what we have.

It is interesting how a poetry can write about descicions and choises in live. I think Robert Frost is great in writing poems, Im reading right now the poem The Road Not Taken and is very Cautivated of how you can make a descicion in live and thin in the responsabilities we have. Now that Im in 10 grade in the high School reading the poem is also a form of Knowing analisis and interpretation os poems to.

I have to write an analysis on this poem for my english class. Not only is it my favorite poem but I think it has an amazing meaning. Life is about choices…and this poem is too. The only thing I want to know is if Frost believes the choice that was made was good….or bad. “difference” is the word he uses…but it’s sooooo vague. Also he says “sigh”…But I don’t get if it’s a happy sigh or a distressed sigh

The first poem in Frost’s book “Mountain Interval”, “The Road Not Taken,” has long been a favorite. Like many of his poems it seems simple, but it is not excatly striaghtforward, and even perceptive readers have disagreed over its best interpretation. It looks like a personal peom about a decision of vast importance, but there is evidence to the contrary both inside and outside the poem. Frost has created a richly mysterious reading experiance out of a marvekous economy of means.

The first significant thing about “The Road Not Taken” is its title, which presumably refers to an unexcersized option-something about which the speaker can only speculate. The traveler comes to a fork in the road through a “yellow wood” and wishes he could somehow manage to “travel both” routes; he rejects that aspiration as impractical, however, at least for the day at hand. The road he selects us “the one less traveled by,” suggesting the desision of an individualist, someone little inclined ti follow the crowd. Almost imediatley, however, he seems to contradict his own judgement: “Through as for that passing there/ Had worn them really about the same.” The poet appears to imply that the desicion is based on evidence that is, or comes close to being, an illusion.

The contradictions continue. He decides to save the first, (perhaps) more traveled route for another day, but then confesses that he does not think if probable that he will return, implying that this seemingly casual and inconsequential choice is really likely to be crucial-one of the choices of life that involve commitment or lead to the necessity of other choices that will divert the traveler forever from the original stopping place. In the final stanza, the traveler says that he will be “telling this with a sigh,” which may connote regret. His choice, in any event, “has made all the difference.” The tone of this stanza, coupled with the the title, strongly suggests that the traveler, if not regretting his choicem at least laments the possibilities that the necessity of making a choice leaves unfulfilled.

First off, like the majority, I really love this poem. However, it’d be my guess that he really didn’t have much faith in his ability as a poet seeing as how this poem was written just as he was returning to the US from England with only one book under his belt and the fourth stanza seems to predict regret on the speaker’s part. If that’s the case, then it’s perfect for his statement of such to be one of his most beloved poems!

Well the interpretation is quite unique. Each person has their view on it; only the creator knows its true meaning. Despite this I’ll add that most of you guys are correct, it’s about choices. People choose the road that most people travel(along the line of conformity), while others travel a path that others rarely tread. It’s an interesting poem that mask the sorrow thats actually in it.

This, this has to be one of the most interresting poem I have ever seen, I must admit at first I though it was abit silly, because I really did’nt understand what he ment, then I relized, 2 Paths ( 2 Choices in Life ) he must make one, and live by his diciscion and never look back, he also wantted to make a difference in his life, “The path with grassy wear” was one of them, he picked that road because it was “less traveled by” now I see he wantted to make a difference and I hope to also make a difference in life also, RIP Robert Frost….

I absolutely love this poem! Frost is simply talking about the choices he has made in his life. Coming to the path is chosing which choice to make, and hes comfused because he doesn’t know which will be a better choice.. In the end, I think he chooses the right path (or choice) but he is always wondering what the other path (choice) would have been like and if it would have been a better one!

Hudsno I think you and so many others miss the point entirely its not about which path he took or didnt take and hes not patting himself on the back for going down the one that most people dont chose. the pome says “and both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black.” both the paths were the same. earlier in the peom he says “tho as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same.” hes just talkin about when you make a choice (choise?) any choise it makes a really big difference to your whole life and everybody elses. thats why he sighs because we are not supposed to no if he was happy or sad like there are happy sighns and sad ones and we dont no which he is talking about here. thats why he sighs.

i went hiking the other day and i think that Robert Frosty is definately a genius. what i dont get is this: why did he have to stand out and do what noone else was doing. If i were him, i would probably walk down each path a little way and see which one was better.I was a boyscout. If i like saw bear tracks on one path then i would definately go down the other path. OH… and i would name it “the road not traveled by bears”

I was a freshman in High School when I first read this poem I didn’t know what it meant then but now I understand. There are many interpretations about his message, but in my opinion I think The poem is definitely about making choices and I believe the Road not taken is about breaking away from everyone else is doing and living how you want to. I have decided to becom an artist that is one route many dont take and for me “That has made all the difference” I was unsure about becoming an artist but after memorizing and reciting excerpts from JFK’s speech at Amherst College “Praising american poet Robert Frost it allowed me to see how important an artists place in society is so “Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by” thank you Robert Frost

i can really relate to this poem because in 8th grade i had to choose which secondary school i wanted to go to. so many of my friends and classmates were going to Loomis Chaffee, but i took the road less traveled by and went to Miss Porter’s. it was possibly the best choice of my life and this poem helped me.

this poem is so..how you say… amaz-za-zing i cannot believe it. i love the robert frost. i am the big fan. i am loving the work. i live in panama. i have got to go…but i hope that you will enjoy my comment.

The first time I read this poem, I was a school going kid now I am a working professional, but still this poem forms the crux of all that I do and achieve, I still remember it verbatim. It has been the most incredible enlightment for me towads choosing the right path always.

The Road not Taken is about making a decision in life. There is a turning point in every living creature where it must make a decision. The road taken by most is a boring choice. Not going to colledge playing around, living in poverty. Would you take that road?

For the people that are ignorant acting like they know this poem so well, and saying this poem was about a choice he had to make. You’re wrong. This poem isn’t about him, it’s about his friend in the war. Just thought I’d set the record straight.

I really like this poem, the first time I read it, I thought it was about suicide and him not taking the easy way out by doing it, and that him living has made all the difference. I know that’s wrong but still, I love the poem

robert frost was probably trying to tell his readers that you never know the out come of your personal decisions but if you “take the road less travel” that might be the best choice for you cause the road everyone takes you already know the out come.

I think that this poem is about sex and commitment. “The one less traveled by” symbolizes a virgin woman, and Frost did not really like his experience with this woman: “I doubted if I should ever come back”.

Hi, I have to do a research paper for English class on the theme of decisions in Robert Frost’s writing. I need three or four of his poems as a source. So far, the only poem I found focusing on decisions is “The Road Not Taken.” However, I am not too familiar with many of his poems, so if you know of a Frost poem with decision making in it, please e-mail me! Thanks =]

This comment is w.r.t. the comments being made that ‘we should follow the crowd’. There is a possibility that the speaker is in fact sighing in relief instead of sighing with regret.

Such uncertainty in the poem can thus mean that the poet is trying to bring out the uncertainty of the outcome of one’s decisions, that one can never be sure which is best, to follow the crowd or to take risks in life, do something that is out of the ordinary.

Should you still be stauch-crowd fella, lemme hear any further justifications… Thx

i think robert frost is an exceptional poet. if you would please spread the world, its national poetry month, and i am a poetry ambassador, i am suposed to spread poetry, love, and peace to the world, so please if you get a chance, write a poem or read it aloud to someone, i know they would really appriciate it, but back the The Road Not Taken. it is an exceptional poem, explaining that he had 2 choices in his life, and the path he took, could have changed his whole life, for which path he took ment all of the difference.

Is there any need to “explain” this poem ?
It does’nt matter to know what Robert Frost was thinking about or what was his aim ( if he had one).
Just look for your own signification …
Connais toi toi même !
claire

I believe this poem helds an accurate resemblence with life itself therefore it should be deeply apreciated.
He begins this poem by having two choices and at the end we can observe how benefitial his early decision was.By not taking the traditional road and allowing destiny to follow through.

The narrator, coming upon a fork in his path, must decide to take one or the other if he wishes to go further on his way. Three times he declares of the two paths similarities, as much as he can sense, as the two roads “as just as fair”, were “worn…about the same” and “equally lay”. Perchance he takes one and not the other, a choice based upon his mortal knowledge, which at its and his best, with the mere spark of a flicker of a flame to light his way forward along this one, that one, either one, serendipity’s human mustering of the smallest of universal truths he can possibly muster, if he even does that. Chance, who knows? Not you. Not me. Not the narrator. The narrator, as human of a being as he is, relates this tale with a feigned great importance in his later years, looking back on a life over which he’s had laid out before him, choices and chances at every turn, often rapid like white rushing river water, often as calm as the tropical seas lap lapping, calming his well worn feet, and then the feet step yet even more and more and…. Years later, he rests in his rocking chair, on his front porch, at his tucked away tiny cabin in the countryside he finally calls home, for it will be his last home, he does grasp something of that, from which he will make those final few steps, into the Great Truths of the bright shining brilliance, the Great Light, the Knowledge that with the humbling bowed knee of acceptance of the All of the Good, the Great, of God, and he will, at long last, be set free…. But there is that one day, on his rocker, on his front porch, there at the last home he will know on this earth, in this body of his, the narrator, so as not to appear to be looking to forlornly, unable, however, to mask his sigh in his recounting, his remembrance of things of his past, what was it, and he still doesn’t know, but he does have his young grandson perched atop his knee asking him, “Grandpa, how did you get here? What did you do with your life? Why?….” And with his own tired crowed eyes of life, glassy yellow rheumy, thin streaks of his life’s blood forking, diverging visibly on what were formerly white and blue, his life’s old eyes, with them he peers down at his bright eyed youthful teeming anticipatory full of wonder, and he glimpses yet another tiny truth in the truly white and blue of his grandson, five years of chance has brought his grandson to him, and he never really saw the boy’s mother, his daughter, he doesn’t know much at all about the boy’s father, and he didn’t know at all, but for some reason he hasn’t really thought the man could ever measure up to the daughter he hardly remembers, but he washily whispers as if a whimper, but it is not to the boy, to the boy it is his grandfather’s story of his amazing long life, going way way way back to ancient history, the boy thinks, some seventy years gack, forever ago, and the strength, the wisdom, the All he must’ve gained, and his eyes, truly white and blue, the narrator thinks, and with a sigh, he relates this very tale, and for the the boy and the boy’s own brighteyed choicefilled future, “bah, choice…chance…it is all but a mere toss of the coin…choice….”, but that is only what he thinks silently sighly to himself, and what he tells his young grandson is, well, he lies through his teeth, “I took the [road] less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

[This is the greatest poem by an American author so far in the country’s forward moving history. Compare to Henley’s poem for morons, Invictus…”captain of my fate, master of my soul”…yeah, idiot of your own choice, by chance, after all, isn’t it? Or…what it is is is….]

The Road Not Taken is a beautiful poem. The speaker is sad at the beginning and happy at the end. The speaker is reflecting upon his life. We can connect by reflecting how we choose our way in life. The speaker might have felt trapped at the beginning and not sure where to go. This poem has emotion.

I think the undergrowth on the path is a symbol of jobs and illness. The undergrowth stands in the way of his future.

The speaker made the right choice – he went over obsticles because he wanted to take the right path. He knew it would be hard.

This poem is good because it shows feelings and emotions, a favorite poem for 2006. We learned that people can make connections with the poem and the poem talks about choosing a path in life. The speaker followed his heart – he is reflecting on his life and he is happy with the choice he made.

I am Robert Frost and (contary to popular belief) I am not a dark poet. The road not taken is not supposed to symbolize following the crowd or any other crap. Its meaning is different for each reader. If you see regret and remorse in my poems it must be reflecting your own lives.

While Ski makes a very good point, I have to disagree. Frost seems to be contemplating his choice, and what would come of it had be chosen “The Road not Taken”; not necessarily regretting the path he ended up following. Perhaps Frost did not have a real choice in his path. The path may have been the more difficult path to follow, especially if Frost was dealing with some personal hurt. This is implied by his description in the first line of the “yellow wood” and again referred to in the “leaves no step had trodden black”. Yellow is a color long associated with pain, and can also be indicative of the season. The “yellow wood” described could actually be a tree of the same name, known for its stunning yellow wood and leaves in the Autumn. Autumn is also often used in literature as a season of change and coming of age. The actual color Yellow, according to Etymology, is associated with sadness. Frost may look back on that time with a little sadness,(which may be implied by his sigh) but he still mentions that the road he chose “has made all the difference”. I also like the poem very much, and I would appreciate it if people who have poor grammer (“me and many others”) would not take it upon themselves to criticize those who can’t “type/spell”.

It’s getting really annoying that some people can’t type/spell and they don’t have helpful things to say. If you love this poem, just keep it to yourself. We are wasting our time by reading that and we are here for a purpose and most of us look at the comments to get help and insightful comments on the poem because we are doing it for school. So, me and many others would appreciate it if some people would stop leaving random comments. Thanks so much!

Ski is very right. This poem is not saying you need to take the path less chosen by people. He is saying that he had to decide whether to take the road less traveled on, or more. He chose the one less traveled. In the end he was disappointed. He even says the word sighs in the poem, meaning he has regret. he didn’t see an obvious choice so he picked one and “that made all the difference.” You can infer he was disappointed because he says “I should be telling this with a sigh.” and he says he may try to go down the other one later. He took a chance and seems to be let down. I’m not sure it says follow the crowd, but it he apparently made a mistake. So maybe this poem is saying outright that people make mistakes and it does “make all the difference.” And you will have a choice and it’s up to you to decide which one to take even though it’s not always a fairy tale ending

Everyone has this poem wrong, in general. The road not taken is a warning that we SHOULD follow the crowd and that, by him veering off the path, he suffered. The first hint of this is the number of lines per stanza…. 5. 5 is a number of suffering in poetry (the 5 pains of christ). He also states that he is telling this with a sigh. This is a sigh of regret for taking the road less traveled. While grammer school teachers will try to tell you this is an optimistic poem, this is not. Frost is a very dark poet, though it does not appear this way on the surface. If you wonder where I get my information from in case you think it not valid, I attend Yale and am an english major there. So try to refute it but this is the truth of Frost.

Very cool poem indeed. I need to find a few good ones for my school project. So this is quite good, but i think i’ll use the ides from this poem to make my own( even if i mess up really bad, cuz poems not my thing). Still is the guy who wrote this still alive?

this poem is generally a reflection of robert frosts life.Its about life and its paths you choose to take during your life….the choice is yours but remember what path you do take makes all the diffrerence….

I read this poem in school and I thought it was great! It encouraged me not to follow the crowd which I was doing for a long time anyway so I needed that encouragement. Then I went to the library and I got a whole book of poetry by Robert Frost!

The Road Not Taken is a wonderfully written poem commenting on the beauty of NOT following the crowd! It’s simplicity and elegence makes it a great read gives the reader something to really think about! I like the poem and will share it with others!

i think that the road not taken is a really good poem. i read this poem in class and we talked about what do you think this poem means to you. i thought it meant about a man who went throw the woods and there was two paths and this man took the path that was ugly and nobody has ever taken. also that the path this man took changed his whole life and thats why he took it. this poem inspierd me to take chances on different things.also that i should take a place where nobodt has ever taken.i think robert frost os one of the best poets.
written by arielle turner

The poem speaks of the American pragmatism. Its not a matter of making a choice between the two roads but creating a difference between the planned approach to life and its creative, experimental and adventurous aspects.

When people read this poem they have in their minds careers,opportunities and advancement of oneself. In my opinion my best example is Jesus Christ , He can choose one road which is to live and be the most powerful king to rule the world, but He choosed the one less travelled by which is to die on the cross to save us lowly sinners.And now it is unto us, are we going to take the road that will lead us to worldly glory and riches or the one that will give us eternal life…Simple to say it but dfficult doing it…aah the wit of Robert Frost

I first read this poem my freshman year in high school and ever since it has stuck to me. This year, as I’m entering my sophmore year in college, I did a presentation on Robert Frost for my literary class. I read this poem aloud and gave my interpretation on what it means to me. I was so surprised to find out how many students have never heard of Robert Frost or of this poem. This poem has really helped me to not be afraid to try new things and to be open-minded about living in this world. It helps to have a sort of guide line for when you get to a certain point in life where you aren’t really sure or are afraid of a potential outcome. You never know, unless you try!

Many people in the world are doing their jobs without their interest and dislike and they may not do creative and innovative things.The poem describing the importance
of choice and challenging mind that we must readt to face any curcumstance without compramising

This poem is actually quite true if interpreted correctly. this poem is basically speaking of the choices of whether to follow your dreams on the “path less taken” or to simply take the easy way out and take the other path, which basically has your entire life planned out right in front of you. For example, a person enters and graduates from college with a degree in…..theatre. they have 2 choices: 1. take the easy way and become an instructor, garanteeed to make money. or 2. go out to L.A. or New York and work to become a famous actor. that would be the tougher road, but if it is the persons dream, then by all means take the risk.

My teacher memorized this poem when she was in 8th grade and she still remembers it. My class at school will memorize it adn I want to remember it all the days of my life. This poem made a difference in my teacher’s life and mine, so I hope it makes a difference in yours. God bless you.

I think this poem represents the two roads as the roads to heaven and hell. He states at the end of the poem that the road less walked on that he took “made all the difference” which means that he became a christian and it made him a better person and made him feel better about his depression problems.

I think that theres an underlying message in the road not taken. i think Frost is expressing the way he feels about his life, and that the only direction for him in life is suicide. Going the more alternative way in life reflects suicide for him. Its a more releiving escape rather than life.

I believe that Robert Frost wrote this poem about his decision to become a poet. He lived during the Industrial Revolution, so easily could have chosen a career as a businessman or craftsman. Instead he took “the road less traveled” and devoted his life to writing works of beauty. Personally, I’m glad he did :).

Robert Frost is the man.The first time heard this poem i fell in love with it and i hope every individual gets a chance to read this poem because its a poem of a short life when a guy doesnt take a road and its the best poem ever FROST RULEZ

Here is what I thought of the poem after reading and studying it. It is not so much an analysis of the poem, but an analysis of the devices used to convey the thesis of the poem.

Robert Frost was one of the major American poets of the 20th century whose lyrics often speak about living life itself. He lived during the years of 1874 to 1963, which encompasses both World War I and World War II, when much of his poetry was written and “The Road Not Taken” being one of them. Robert Frost lived a fairly restless life, with many personal and family issues concerning moving, buying and selling property, working or quitting multiple jobs, and just the very act of making many difficult decisions. This is much of what Robert Frost was experiencing when he had to constantly make life-changing decisions, many of which are in regards to movement: having to move from California to Massachusetts to England and back to several states in the United States again. This moving pertained to his studies at various colleges as well as working a multitude of occupations. His poetry brought him to England where he met up with several other poets; however, due to the war, he was forced to move back to avoid the commotion. In the case of the War, it would not only apply to Frost of having to make a decision to leave the poets who had helped him begin his poetry-writing career, but for other people of the world as well. This would prompt him to write such a poem entitled “The Road Not Taken.”
The poem describes the act of making choices within one’s life is solely responsible for the outcomes one produces. Frost speaks of the decisions one encounters as they journey through life and how at several points, one would come to a “fork” where the individual would have to decide which road (or decision) is best for them. At such points, Frost goes further to describe how one would contemplate whether or not the individual would like to take the road that has been traveled more or embark upon their own path. Because life is full of forks and divisions, it is not possible that one can choose one way and decide to turn back for the other. In essence that a life-changing decision is “life-changing,” it is all the same impossible to turn back and take the other road.
“The Road Not Taken” possesses a solemn tone. The poem speaks very much about the decisions one must make should they continue through their life. Frost explains how “two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” and the speaker “taking the other” after “long [he] stood” has “made all the difference.” He acknowledges that the choices he has made and will make will greatly affect his future; therefore it is not a matter to be taken lightly, thus explaining his solemnity in the matter. The speaker realizes that both roads were “equally laying” “just as fair,” which makes them “really about the same.” The fact that there was not a significant difference between the two roads makes it difficult for the speaker to choose which road he would like to take. He understands that the choice is critical and does not treat life like a game, to be jokingly selected. He therefore “looked down as far as [he] could to where it bent in the undergrowth” to figuratively examine how one decision would affect his life. It is reasonable how the speaker would adopt such a solemnity while making such a decision as he would hope to make the best decision and not have any regrets. In the way that a fork in a road symbolizes a decision and a journey symbolizes a quest, the speaker is seeking to continue his life and gain self-knowledge. To the speaker, his pursuit is important, and that supports his taking on of a solemn tone.
Though it is elaborate, the poem’s diction contributes to highly reflective imagery. The act of speaking in past tense for the majority of the poems develops the symbol of passing time. Frost also selects several words such as “yellow wood,” “long,” “just as fair,” “sigh[ing],” “ages and ages” portray that the speaker has been on the earth for quite a bit of time. A “yellow wood” symbolizes autumn: a time when trees loose their leaves, and life gets ready to die away for winter. It is typically accepted that autumn is a time of aging, and one is approaching winter: the time of death. With both the roads having been worn so much that they were “just as fair,” it must have taken rather some time for both to be worn to the same level. Frost goes further to explain how each road was like the other in the morning. “Morning,” when looked upon literally would define a new day, and from that one would connect figuratively that morning signifies a new beginning and thus a passing of time. As time passes, one would grow tired, hence the “sigh.” In the final verse, the speaker refers to the future where he “shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence.” This is after many years of careful contemplation.
The whole idea of passing time demonstrates how the decision-making process goes on for one’s entire life. The “two roads diverging” is just one out of many decisions to be made. On one particular road, however, there was a “bent in the undergrowth.” Figuratively speaking, a bend in a road is an obstacle, and in this case, it was an obstacle in one of the choices in the speaker’s life. When one works around an obstacle, it adds to length; this being a length in time. In many ways, them poem has a time motif, where life is a long and intricate situation to go through. By stating how the roads were “grassy and wanted wear,” the speaker is embarking on a new journey. This embarking is just another decision the speaker must make that will inevitably decide for the outcome of his life. Because none of the leaves on the roads were “trodden black,” he is not taking the road others have taken, but making the way for his own life and being the first to make such a decision. The speaker also knows that “way leads onto way,” so even though the speaker has made a decision to travel one road, the decision-making is continuous, and life does not stop for him to retrace his steps and try the other road. The particular choice he made, however, has made “all the difference,” and that signifies that his contemplation has proven him a dramatic change in his life.
The poem’s language is simple, but the complex syntax connects the punctuation and words to the thesis. Robert Frost wrote this poem in a few different combinations of tertrameter which employs a simple rhyme scheme and the varied effects of these schemes. By writing in such a fashion with the entire poem composed of four sentences, he is able to equate the feeling of many years passing by to the length of the sentences. These sentences are characterized by compound, complex. The very idea of compound and complex sentences is that they are long and elaborate, similar to that of the continuous life-altering decisions made every day. In addition to drawing out the ways how “way leads on to way,” Robert Frosts also inserts punctuation in several places. Punctuation itself, especially in poetry, can signify a range of things: a period meaning an end of a thought, a comma showing a pausing moment, a semicolon to connect ideas, and a dash to show large contrast. Acknowledging that, Frost tends to place the commas where he is describing the two roads. The commas, like the words making up the compound and complex sentences, force the audience to read his poem with the intended pauses, obviously to indicate the idea that decision-making is not a quick and easy task to do. The semicolons are also used similarly with the commas; however, they provide a contrast of images as well as the lengthening of the sentence, such as that of the road with the “bent in the undergrowth,” and the other that “was grassy and wanted wear.” It is through these commas and semicolons that Robert Frost extended what would be a simpler sentence into a little more than two full stanzas.
There is the one colon and dash where it has
“Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”
The colon specifies the change between the past and the future when the speaker tells of his past decision and how it will affect him versus the future when he will be looking back at his past and how that has affected him. The dash signifies a pause and provided for the repetition of “I.” The repetition carries a hint of pride and pomposity. Though it may not be a likable quality, the speaker is also stating at the same time that because he decided for himself without the influence of others and embarked upon his own journey, he has emerged successful and “made all the difference.” The fact that his decision was the better one sentimentalizes this particular time and will allow him to go on and make the better choices in his future when he meets up on another road. That is crucial to understanding the concept of “The Road Not Taken.”
Recognizing the value of “The Road Not Taken” can be a difficult thought to let go. Many would always have the urge to head back and travel down the other road instead just to experience what may happen. However, Robert Frost wants readers to realize and accept that life is too full of decisions to retrace every single diversion. He wants readers to be content with the road they have taken and not doubt the other road not taken may be better. To travel every diversion in a road would take more than a lifetime to accomplish, and as long as one is still alive, there will forever be diversions in the roads they take.

This poem is, in fact, terrible. Frost attempts to make some sort of martyr of himself, and in doing so, condescends to the rest of us. “I took to an exotic sort of life while you plebeins stomped on your path of banality.” That is what he is saying to you. Mr. Frost ate poop and he is probably in hell. =)

I feel that Frosts work is a touch of work from heaven. I love to read his work it touches my soul but i have 2 main poems that i love (the road not taken),(fire and ice)they mean so much.not all of his work is his best but the ones that are good are well really good. he is not my top poet but he is up there with the greats!

Hey just wanted to say that the poem touched my heart because it made me realize what my life meant. It also made me realize that everything that happens is for a reason because God has this plan for us. Also don’t follow everybody because you are suppose to be your own person and if you follow everybody else you will get what they get. If you do your own thing then you will get what you should get for yourself because if everybody travels the easy road with no difficulties then they won’t realize what its worth. But if you travel the hard road you will realize the importance of the life you have.

For me, the poem is more about the decisions we make from moment to moment, sometimes taking the more “common” or traveled route and sometimes not. Taking the road less traveled is similar to being independent, both in action and thought. If you travel the same path as everyone else you will arrive at the same place as well. If you let your feet (or your mind) diverge from well traveled routes then the possibilities of seeing and thinking things that others could not become greatly enhanced. And that WILL make all the difference.

i’m suppose to do a presentation on this poem so I did a search and came to this site.
And wow… i didn’t know there would be so many interpretations on this poem.
I have to agree that this poem is a bit ironic, Anyway, here it is a requirement for all secondary students (O-levels) to learn this poem, And the teachers are all saying this is an inspirational poem (hahaha)

It’s interesting to discover, as I did recently, that the whole thing was just a dig at his friend who he walked with. The friend would sigh over what economists call, ‘opportunity cost’: missing out on the benefits of the alternatives you could have chosen. That he considered the sighing quaint and romantic makes me enjoy the poem more; really he’s poking fun at someone who refuses to live in the moment and wastes their imagination on worry.

For all of you basing life changing decisions on this poem and think its the biggest inspiration, consider this… An alternative reading of this poem could be that the persona in the poem doesn’t take the road less travelled. It is ambiguous because he notes that they are equally travelled and evenly trod. Yet at the end he says that he took the road less travelled, which has made all the difference? How can that be? The main idea is that we lie to ourselves to move forward in life. He contradics himself. He wants to rationalise his decsisions and so he tricks himself into thinking he took the road less travelled. This creates an impression of irony. The title “the road not taken” shows that eventually the persona will contemplate what was down the other road, in other words, have regrets. For it is NOT called “the road I took” or “the road less travelled” it IS called “the road not taken”. He is thinking about what he missed out on. Did the persona take the road less travelled, or is this just the was he/she wants to define themself?
Think about that before you go making “life changing” decisions based on this poem. 🙂 Please comment

Well, well, I haven’t been on this site for a while now. I was one of the original commentors who helped to turn this page into more of a chatsite than anything else. I left the site because of this and the drama that was caused by it. I am pleased to see that Robert Frost is still as popular as ever and has exceeded over 330 comments:) on this page. Keep searching for other poets that spark your interest, the more you read, the better your own writing skills will become.

I go to a really cool school and my english teacher had us memorize the poem and we had to recite it in front of the whole class … i found myself likeing the poem it is a wonderful poem to memorize!I have heard this poem recited other ways like “2 roads diverged in a yellow wood and i took the 1 less traveled by state troopers” …

although the two roads in the poem are diverging, they lead in different directions. At the beginning they probably appear to be similar, but miles away, they will grow farther and farther away from each other which resembes to many choices we are faced with in life.we understand that one decision in life can change everything. We are free to choose, but we do not really know beforehand what we are choosing between. Our route is, thus, determined by a choice and chance.also “The Road Not Taken” consists of four stanzas of five lines. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB

the poem says it all about life about choice…. how it can make a difference… you can choose to follow you can choose to lead… you can choose to embark on a whole new path and follow wherever it may lead… but choose you must at the beginning before you make a discovery or being discovered for missing

well .. I think it is one of the rare good stuff we have studied in poetry courses and it always gave me a bit of melancholy after reading…can we ever really choose anything and is it possible not to look back on it? and is the road less chosen really the road less chosen???and who decides?

This poem is definitely a wonderful poem as we experience the similar situations in our life.Life at the crossroads really become difficult for us particularly when we have to be decisive.There are always two or more roads in front of us and our decision shapes our destiny. This poem helps us to think of the necessity of being decisive as it will ultimately shape our destiny. “…Two roads diverged in a yellow wood ….” Really a remarkable line …..

hi. i’m a freshman at Springbrook High School, in Silver Spring, Maryland.on my 8th grade year, i attended White Oak Middle school, where my English teacher showed us this poem. We had to memories it and recited during our thanksgiving dinner. i remember that this poem was a beautiful poem. it made most of my family cry. it makes you see life differently, and to ba able to think about your choices.

fisrt off this is not his greatest poem, one of his better ones yes, but not his greatest. second steven from the us..dont make fun of some one if you cant even use th english language correctly, dose, astralian, and bout are not words…you look dumb as shit for even posting that, also i really doubt the prson is from australia…you sir are an idiot

I first heard the poem in my English class, while in the States as an excange student in 1978. I’m sure I’ve sent part of it to my dad… but i didn’t have the letter nor remembered of it, and searched the web. I’ll problably put in on a frame, on my living room. It means a lot to me.

Wow… I read that poem and I was speachless. It was so amazing. For that author to have that kind of talent must be the best feeling in to world. I have read this poem over three hours ago and still. Speachless

The poem is intensely philosophioc despite looking so basically simple.It has the message of ‘Indian Mysticism’- that choices made in life may be guided by destiny- which determines one’s life.we think that we choose the way but all the time it is a divine force which leads us on.The road we take is pre-destined.

This poem has helped me to relize that, my life depends on the decisions i make not the ones that other people make for me or help me make. Sometimes in life your friends and/or family wont always be their so you have to get used to making decisions by yourself. He’s not single he’s dead.

How does he do all this? I’m doing a English project on Robert Frost and it would be really good if someone can leave me some useful informations on this guy’s poems. Like some of his signiture sentence structures (if he has one)and stuff. Thanx.

It does seem to me that Jordan is right. Frost repeatedly points out that the two roads are equally well travelled by.
I was listening to Radio 4 yesterday and a commentator said that Frost was pointing out our very conformist idea of all being “individualistic”.
In fact there is only one truth..and a limited number of ways at arriving at Truth. We like to boast that we have chosen our “own” way…but in fact we have chosen from a limited number of options before us.Our lives are actually far more circumscribed/planned for us than we like to believe. Perhaps we can rejoice that actually we are not obliged to beat our ways through the undergrowth. We can rejoice that we are not so individual as we like to believe but are, in fact, part of a much larger plan.

I believe that Robert Frost realized that the greatest choices we make will sometimes be the ones in which we must stand alone/apart from the crowd. Sometimes we cannot take the easy road and follow along with the ways of the world, but we must forge ahead on a much rougher course in which we are led by a stronger, higher power, our Creator, God.

heyy this poem is sweet!! i know exaclty what this poem means. It means when you are going down the road (of your life) and everyone takes one road but you wanna be different so you end up taking the other road and so on and so yeh. Im doing rob frost for a project at school and i think he is a good poet!1

I love poems my ex boyfriend would write me them and my boyfriend now writes me them i love them!!

I’ve read a lot of explanation of this poem. But no one said that the speaker took the road less travled by because he want to show up. This is one of the human characters that when it comes to something we take the less doen to say that we take the challange that made all the differnce.

This is the most fascinating poem I have ever read in my life.It can clearly visualize a dilemma, a man facing in his life.This poem shows that evrry one should be ready to take risks if they want to something in future.

In my eyes one of the best poets ever was Robert Frost. He basically states that everyone is a traveler and choosing the right roads to follow in life is never a straight path.
Each and everyday people travel in one point in their life, forcing them to make decisions and choices that may affect their lives forever. In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, leaves each reader with several different opinions. From the tone of this poem, he has an affecting and thoughtful mood. “I shall be telling this with a sign, somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by” (lines 16-19). Taking the road that was not much traveled by, he gives each reader a sense of uplift as to make ones own choice and do what they think is right. You don’t really have to choose a normal way out of life, but follow your heart and dreams. Robert’s point of view and beliefs in the poem, that it is the road that one chooses that makes that individual the person who they are.
During the first stanza, the first line of the poem itself develops the theme of the entire poem. Road here represents the road of life and choice. The two roads in this poem symbolize the poet’s choice between two different metaphorical paths he must take. At the start of the poem the traveler says, “And sorry I could not travel both,” (line 2) this point the speaker portrays his regret because he must make a choice. Yet, the choice is not easy, since “long he stood” before coming to a decision (Gale). In an attempt to make a decision, the traveler “looked down one as far as I [he] could” (line 4). He examines the path as best he can, but his vision is limited because the path bends and is covered over. These lines indicate that although the speaker would like to acquire more information, he is prevented from doing so because of the nature of his environment (Gale). Through the use of tone, Robert clearly expresses the road that one takes, will define and redefine who they are by the choices they make minute to minute (Chapman 36).
Next, the speaker states that he, “Then took the other, just as far, and having perhaps the better claim” (lines 6-7). It was a better claim because “it was grassy and wanted wear,” (line 7). The second path was more attractive because no one hardly took that path therefore he calls it “the road less traveled by”. Frost is telling the reader to follow their desire and do what one feels is right. Never let anyone or anything keep you from doing what you want. This is clearly shown by the traveler being a leader than a follower.
Although the poet breaks the stanza after line 10, the central idea continues into the third stanza, creating a structural link between these parts of the poem. Here, the speaker states that the paths are “really about the same.” Neither path has been traveled lately. Although he’s searching for a clear logical reason to decide on one path over another, that reason is unavailable (Gale).
Then in the third stanza, it says “And both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black” (line 11-12). This is referring to the leaves had covered the cold ground and since the time they had fallen no one had yet taken that road. Maybe Frost stated those two lines because when a person has to make a choice or a decision everything is fresh and brand new. The two roads that have not been walked upon represents a new decision your making in life.
Finally, the speaker makes his decision, trying to persuade himself that he will eventually satisfy his desire to travel both paths, but simultaneously admitting that such a hope is unrealistic (Gale). Notice the exclamation mark after line 13; such a punctuation mark conveys excitement, “Oh, I kept the first for another day!” but that excitement is quickly undercut by his admission in the following lines (Gale).
“Yet knowing how ways leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back” (lines 14-15).
The traveler wrote this line because he realizes that the choice he makes is not short-term and he will have to deal with it. So he chooses the one less traveled by and later finds out that it was better for him that way.
In this stanza, the tone clearly shifts. This is the only stanza, which also begins with a new sentence, indicating a stronger break from the previous ideas (Gale). In the last stanza the speaker relays a felling of bittersweet, when he says, “I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence” (lines 16-17). The speaker closes the poem with a sense of pride and accomplishment by announcing, “Two roads Diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference” (lines 18-20). At the end of the poem, in the future, he will claim that the paths were different from each other and that he courageously did not choose the conventional route. Perhaps he will actually believe this in the future; perhaps he only wishes that he could choose “the one less traveled by (Gale).
In conclusion the decisions we all must make will and do have an effect on our daily lives, and our lives in the future. Whether that will be taking a road that leads to hate, jail, rape, and murderous, vile, disgusting, slanderous and demoralizing actions, or whether that be taking a road that leads to good health, happiness, joy, friendliness and a caring, giving, loving and prospering actions. Whatever the decisions that we encounter, whatever the difficult choices that we are forced to make, and whatever the paths that we must take, are bound to have some effect on our lives, and essentially the lives of others. Are we going to take the paths that allow us to give, help, and love? Or are we going to choose the paths that make us steal, be self-absorbed, and hate? The “Road Not Taken” is the one that is less traveled, the one that is right and good, the one that nobody takes because it is what the “world” thinks you should take. Most people don’t think about the consequences of the paths they take, before they take them.

I first read “The Road Not Taken” when I was about 15 yrs old. I personaly think that this poem is saying that we normally take either the right road or wrong. we go our own ways down a road to see where we end up at.

I’m goign to write a poem down that means a lot to me. Please comment on it.

Never Drink and Drive
I went to a party mom, I remembered what you said. You told me not to drink, Mom, so I drank soda instead. I felt really proud inside, Mom, just like you said I would. I didn’t drink and drive, Mom, even thought the others said I should. I did the right thing, Mom, I know you are always right. Now the party is finally ending, Mom, as everyone is driving out of sight. As I got into my car, Mom, I knew I’d get home in one peice. Because of the way you raised me, so responsible and sweet. I started to drive away, Mom, but as I pulled out into the road, the other car didn’t see me, Mom, and hit me like a load. As I lay here on the pavement, Mom, I hear the policeman say the other guy is drunk, Mom, and I am the one who will pay. I’m lying here dying, Mom…. I wish you’d get here soon. How could this happen to me, Mom? My life just burst like a balloon. There are people all around me, Mom, and they are really crying. I hear the medic say, Mom, I’ll die in a short time. I jsut wanted to tell you, Mom, I swear didn’t drink. It was the others, Mom. The others didn’t think. He was probably at the same party as I. The only difference is, he drank and I will die. Why do people drink, Mom? It can ruin your whole life. I’m feeling sharp pains now. Pains just like a knife. The guy who hit me is walking, Mom, and I don’t think its fair. I’m lying here dying and all he can do is stare. Tell my brother not to cry, Mom. Tell Daddy to be brave. And when I go to heaven, Mom, put “Daddy’s Baby” on my grave. Someone should have told him, Mom, not to drink and drive. If only they had told him, Mom, I’d still be alive. My breath is getting shorter, Mom. I’m becoming very scared. Please don’t cry for me, Mom. When I needed you, you were always there. I have one last question, Mom, before I say good-bye, “I didn’t drink and drive so why am I the one to die?” This is the end Mom, I wish I could look at you in the eye to say these final words…”I love you and… good-bye”

I hope you thought this was meaningful.Keep posting everyone!.
Elga Shinkle

THis is an amazing poem, it is basically about the choices you make in your life and a time when you had to choose to do one thing over another and at a later time looking back you think about both choices and realize that the choice you made was the right choice.

I love this poem so much. I memorized it in the sixth grade and I am now re-memorizing it in communications in the 8th grade. I thought it was a cool and warm sense on the trail you less traveled by. I made a poem before. Are you single. I love you

When I read some of the comments for this poem, I was appalled and disgusted. I would just like to say that in the honour of Robert Frost, sometimes the road not taken (that includes insulting people and making rude comments) does make all the difference. Shame on you all for being like that. This is a place to analyze poetry and share your interests in the amazing poem. Please don’t belittle it with childish immature comments.

for those interested in getting others interpretations of the poem. I feel it most simply describes Frost outlook on life. Not only his own life. This literature remind me greatly of the earlier trancendantalist such as Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman. As the poems says “I chose the one less traveled/ and that made all the difference” so essential dare to be different, be unique and trust thyself. these work recognizes that following your own path is all the difference

Now as to the argument let us all agree that THE TRUTH is childish while Will is a cocksucking anal raping gay ass motherfucker.

Cheney Middle School 8th grade got to memorize The Road not taken By Robert Frost. Then we got to say it out in front of our blocks. Mrs. Voth is are communications teacher, and she lets us memorize Robert Frosts poem.
The poem is such a pretty poem

hes so childish. he cant think of a good insult so he just swears until he feels good about himself. w/e i dont really care. just not here man, go swear at someone else, preferably in real life. Preferably a 6 ft 8 in, 300 pound football player. Then we’ll see what ur made of… literally.. lol

At the moment Im required to do a seminar on Robert frost, this looked like an excellent site to view others opinions so click on it I do, but do I find others opinions or an argument going on that has nothing to do with Robert frost??? This is crazy maybe you could exchange email addresses and argue there?? I don’t ment to be offensive but this is definitly not what I expected to find!

Hi, guys. I saw what you said Grace; don’t let those past comments intimidate you. Everyone on this site is just really opinionative. I’ve thought about all of this for a while and I’ve decided to just post something once in a while. You guys are really great, I guess I was a little caught up in the moment when I wrote that last comment. I’m still standing by what I said, though. From now on, if something like this ever happens again, I’ll just reframe from taking sides since I can get pretty intensive. Here’s a poem that I wrote. I based it a little off of our fights. Please do comment on it, whatever you say helps:

“Walking Down the Poetry Page”
I bought a ripe, red apple there,
To eat along the way.
I took a breath as I bit
And crunched it sweetly,
Turning it over and over my tongue
Until it lost its flavor.
I swallowed it and sank my teeth
And repeated the process with different bites–
Different breaths.
I knew I should have kept it whole,
Or at least have grown my own.
But I couldn’t resist
Eating another person’s apple.

This is my first time on this site, or any like it, but after reading several of the most recent comments, I’m not sure if I can keep up with all the drama. But for John’s sake, I would like to say that I do love this poem, partly because I would like to think of myself as someone who is taking the road less traveled by(=, which gives this poem a lot of meaning for me. I’m glad that there are people from so many different countries commenting on this poem and sharing their views. I hope you won’t view me as a “mere American,” but just as a person who happens to love reading and writing poetry. I agree with Joodie- we shouldn’t take this poem and analyze it to the point that it brings us no joy and shows us nothing about ourselves. To me, analyzing poetry and saying “This is what the writer was saying” means that one poem should tell everyone the same thing. But isn’t that the completely backwards? Like Elga said, poetry means something different to everyone. I write poetry because I’m passionate person and poetry is one way I express myself. Passion is not something to be explained or analyzed. It’s just how we feel. Thank you all for listening, and I really do hope that this site won’t turn into a chat room, because I really do love the whole idea.

Ingrid, I’m not sure how long you have been on this site, but I welcome you. You seem to be a very nice person.

I would like it if everyone would agree to not fight over little things on this posting area, such as what the color yellow represents. (I chose this topic because no one was being exactly hateful when they argued about it.) That is obviously an opinion and everyone may have different views on it. I now promise that I, Joodie, will not argue over petty matters. I hope you all will do the same.

And now of course, to talk about this poem. I have discovered that even I have gone slightly off track with this. I must write now how I feel about this poem in poetic form, my interpretation, if you will.

A the smoke billows up the chimney
Fades away into breeze
Watching makes a feeling
Of being lost

As the smoke fades away
Into the breeze
Thinking about life
Seems so futile

Reaching for it
Grasping a handful
Opening the hand
All is gone

Thank you all for listening. Ingrid, I liked your poem a lot, too. Keep writing, pupils.

John
first off all I am not sorry. I was serious. To tell you the truth I do not like Moe. That does not mean I don’t like TjB I agree with him most of the time. Ingrid if you had read a little farther then you might have noticed after my first comment, which was just commenting on Moe’s interpretaition was not rude at all. Then in Moe’s next comment he wrote “hey elga I wrote a poem, what are you going to do about it (spit). Which I find so rude. When I said not to write poetry I ment don’t write poetry if you can’t stand someone critizizing it. Ingrid you are desperately trying to make it my fault. Is Moe your husband or something. Of course maybe you all are to young to understand things. You all are children so the world is a mystery. I will not say names but some of you are vile. Tjb I must compliment you on your postings for they are very thoughtful. I know you think before you write. Moe do you think before you write? Judging on your comments I have to say no. I am sorry you don’t like me but that does not mean you can be a little twit. When you grow up life is going to be hard if you can’t take critism. I hope you do not end up ob the streets with no family, no house, no money, and 72 cats. I advise you to always THINK before you post. I do not mean to offend you but you must be a little nicer.
Everyone I want you to keep posting!!!!!=)
Elga Shinkle

Ingrid, I know for a fact that the rude comment posted was very rude. But she was trying to be nice. Americans never do what she was doing. It is an extreme version of sarcasm called unasarcasm that is meant to be funny. That’s why we all joined with her. We didn’t know that we would offend someone. We are all very sorry. Josna, Elga Shinkle, Joodie, and especially myself, feel that we should’ve known that Americans do not participate in this sort of sarcasm. We did not mean for Moe to leave the site. Here is an example of unasarcasm: A couple watches a really wonderful movie. After it, the man says, “Well, that was the dumbest movie on earth.” And the woman could respond back, “Well, not as bad as your toupee.” It is totally a humor issue, which involves randomness and rudeness. I need to let out my feelings, so here is my interpretation of the fighting between us:

Like sand in an hourglass
So are the fights between us
As the sun wanes
The apple lane
Is shrouded
Covered in it
Dusk is approaching
The door is closing
The story is ending
It is bending!

We offer our deepest apologies to you all. We have met on another website and decided to plead for your forgiveness. Please comment some more.

P.S. If you’re rqading this and haven’t commented on this poem, you must! I love this poem, we all do!

I’m going to write something I found on the internet that means a lot to me. I hope you like it.

Five More Minutes
While at the park one day, a woman sat down next to a
man on a bench near the playground. “That’s my son over there,” she said, pointing at a little boy in a red sweater who was gliding down the slide.

” He’s a fine looking boy” the man said. “That’s my son on the swing in a blue sweater.” Then, looking at his watch, he called his son.

“What do you say we go, Todd?”

Todd pleaded”Just five more minutes, Dad. Please? Just five more minutes.”

Time passed and again the father stood and called again to his son.”Time to go now

Again Todd pleaded, “Just five more minutes, Dad. Just five more minutes.”

The man smiled and said, “O.K.

“My, you certainly are a patient father,” the woman responded.

The man smiled and then said, “My older son Tommy was killed by a drunk driver last year while he was riding his bike near here. I never spent much time with Tommy and now I’d give anything for just five more minutes with him. I’ve vowed not to make the sam mistake with Todd. He thinks he has five more minutes to swing. The truth is, I get five more minutes to watch him play.”

Yellow, in the visual medium, is a color associated with happyness. Yes, on that site I gave (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow), it does say that yellow is associated with jaundice and cowardice. But that is in the confines of a certain culture. Read where it says (visually), that yellow is associated with happyness and peace. Psychologically all humans are the same, and the colors yellow, orange, and red (can be mixed with any other color) stimulate the brain in such a way as to create “better” feelings.
Ive read further down on this, and this whole thing started when Moe (politely) disagreed with J mark’s interpretation. He even said he liked J mark’s poem about his interpretation of The Road Not Taken. THEN, Elga said that he was wrong about the color yellow (and hes not)and insulted by saying “now i know why JM calls you a ‘mere’ American”, and then she said “heres a tip, don’t write poetry.” He then responded by writing a poem about America. (and reading it didnt make it seem like he was from texas, he was actually pointing out flaws in America, his goal was to show that Americans actually arent all form texas, read his description)
So basically Elga started it all and everyone joined in on the downhill slope of nastyness against Moe.

First of I started commenting on this site about a week ago. The first comment I made was about Moe. I would have never posted that note if I know Moe would have gotten offended. I think everyone on this site needs to know there is going to be one person who just loves your poetry and one person who hates it, and you shouldn’t get offended. The next time you write poetry the person who hated it might love it, and the person that loved it might hate it. Oh and thinking yellow or black is happy or sad is just an opinion. To some people yellow is sad, and black is happy. Just like some poeple say a poem is great some say it is bad, thats jsut an opinion. Poetry means a different thing to many different things. To some you can get lost into a happy place and have a great time. To some poetry is a way to get out your anger at someone. To some poetry is a way to let out your sadness of a lost one. We should all be nicer to each other, because if the world stops loving each other we will all come to a horrible end. If we all start to fight, in the end we will all perish, but if we all are kind and loving we will make this world a better place. Moe to me you were very hurtful. I’m sorry, but it’s hard for me to feel sad for you after you wrote those mean comments.
Keep writing poetry everyone
Elga Shinkle

By the way, Ingrid, I went to the website you had listed and it said “In the English language, yellow has traditionally been associated with jaundice and cowardice.” Isn’t cowardice being afraid? I think it must be the wrong site or something, otherwise Elga is definitely right.

Listen, Tiff, you’re right. I only care about people’s poetry skills on this site. That’s because this is really the only thing we all have in common. We all like to read and write poetry. The purpose of this site is to allow people like us to comment on poetry. We basically can say what we want, just as long as we don’t turn this into a chat site. I keep personality separate from craft. True, a person’s personality can affect their writing; however, a person should not be persecuted for what they say. If I remember correctly, Moe did ask questions that seemed offensive to some people, but it was mainly concerning poetry. He was then drawn into multiple arguments which he couldn’t get himself out of because of his big mouth. Then name-calling started and eventually it escalated to one or two other members telling Moe to get off the site and stop writing poetry. I look for the good in people, and to me that good was his poetry. So I ignored everything else. This seems pretty narrow, but that is exactly what I did. I defended Moe and his poetry because I believed his poetry was great and that he should have at least one shred of support. Elga made an uneducated gesture. It was good of her to be able to explain what the colors in “A Road…” meant to her, but Moe and other people who have probably studied more into poetry throughout history (I am not assuming Elga hasn’t) had a much better case than her. Why must I be criticized for defending someone. I did it because I wanted to and I felt that Moe needed at least one person to support him. I don’t care about how classy he is, he was overreacting. He should have cooled down but he was being hammered and that was the only way he knew of defending himself. I came on this website to analyze and critically comment on poetry. I was attracted to the great number of comments on this particular site. I wrote one. And then I wrote more as I saw some responses. But with so many sensitive people on this site (Moe himself being one), I’ve just been flabbergasted at how things can be taken to the extreme. Moe was too proud. I was too compassionate. I choose my friends based on their personalities. But this is a totally different matter. We are talking about poetry here. I don’t judge a person’s poem based off of who they are. I probably will never meet any of you in the real world, but if I do, know this: I will judge you then on how you act rather than now on what you write. I think I’ve done well to keep my emotions in check. And I thought I could escape the drama that’s all around (at least be relieved of some of the pressure) by coming onto this site, but all I find is even more pressure. You people talk about how rude Americans are, well take a look at yourselves! I didn’t want to leave this site with such bitterness, but it looks like it can’t be helped. Perhaps I, too, am overreacting; however, it seems to me that everyone has offended at least one person on this site. I’m leaving this site until I cool off, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop reading poetry (and your comments). I may come back or I may not. If you want to respond to this, then do so. I wouldn’t mind reading them at all, but I’ll reframe from writing. Goodbye, everyone. Ingrid, you’re the only one who seems to have made sense here with that last comment.

Almost anything can be interpretated differently, Ingrid. Elga did nothing wrong, Moe just got annoyed because someone disagreed with him. Elga seems to be a very nice person as a matter of fact. Quite brilliant, too. She isn’t a showy poet like some certain people on this site are. Toodles, Ingrid, I hope you respond with some great poetry.

TjB, may I be very candid with you? Yes? Okay, I will be. What you say is mostly ridiculous. You say that we shouldn’t mean to someone just because we don’t like them. I don’t agree with that, but, whatever. We’ll compare this statement to what Moe does.

1. Elga disagrees with Moe on what colors make people happy and make people sad. She was very polite. No big deal, right? Actually, it is, for Moe, I guess.

2. Moe responds by writing the “American Poem.” In your latest comment you say, I quote, “I do remember Moe simply asking questions, but Moe says, also quoting, “Elga talking about black being a happy color is ridiculous…I wrote some poetry Elga, so what you gonna do bout it. (Spit)” I know what you are all thinking about Moe right now. Ah, what class, what culture. (Right.)

3. You also said, I quote, “I’m saying that no one should attack others based on their beliefs and personalities.” this is just me, but the main way that I find out if I like someone is based on their personality. that’s how I choose my friends. How do you think you should judge if someone be liked or not. By what you have written, it seems likes what you care about is their poetry skills. That is so not how I pick my friends.

Well, are you all happy now? I tried to be objective, I tried to defend Moe a little bit because he became the underdog on this site. But now, he has been driven away. Goodbye, Moe. Why should people be so cruel to others. I do remember Moe simply asking questions. They might have been bad questions, or they might have been asked the wrong way; however, regardless of what they were, they offended some people on this site. If some people would be more moderate in their responses and try to enforce understanding rather than striking each other in the throats, I’m sure there would be less hatred and malice–not just on this site, but also in the world. People are too easily offended. Whether it’s fueled by a culture difference or not, it doesn’t matter because people can always apologize for miscommunicating or unintentional harm and they can always be forgiven. This isn’t so in this case. Whatever is said, people seem to take it to heart (good or bad) and they never let the speaker forget. This is spite and revenge. The reason why I always defended Moe was because he was getting too much hammered by everyone else, that my criticism of him would be useless. People, poetry and the person who writes it are two completely different things. You have to set a clear understanding between the two. You could be a really obnoxious person, but still write beautiful poetry. I thought Moe was obnoxious and rude and he gave Americans a bad image. I defended him because he was attacked for simply being the way he is. For simply stating his opinions. I don’t have to ally myself with him or his opinions, but I can defend his right to say what he wants to say. Freedom of expression is a powerful component in Art. Without this freedom, Art is useless. So how can you all defend John Mark’s poetry, while pushing Moe to stop writing. You have no right to say that. Freedom of expression goes so far as to allow someone to say what they want as long as they don’t deliberately use their art to hurt people. Moe’s poem, in my opinion, was a wonderful analysis of American history and ideals. It was his way of expressing himself, and it offended no one. To say that the poem was crap just because you didn’t like Moe that much at all doesn’t make sense. You weren’t criticizing his poetry, you were criticizing him. If you want to criticize people, then do it on another site, because this site was not meant for that. I’m not saying that anyone should leave this site; I’m saying that no one should attack others based on their beliefs and personalities. I feel like I’m just talking to a wall because you people never try to change your attitudes to the extent that you would forgive Moe just a little bit. “To err is Human; to forgive is Divine.” You should take this advice more often and stick with writing poetry rather than just being mean.
Oh, before I forget…J. Mark, I read your comment. Like you, I feel that I’m much better at writing prose than verse. However, I think that genius can emerge when faced with restriction. You simply work around the limits and create something plausible to the structure, which is also just as powerful as a poem in prose. I think is was Frost’s way of thinking: genius under restriction. I want to improve myself in verse so that I can incorporate my meanings in many different forms. Whenever I write a poem in verse, and it looks like it really hits the mark, then I feel a greater sense of accomplishment because I achieved something while being under restriction. You can also play with verse, just like Marianne Moore did. I also don’t understand what you were saying in the second half of your comment, the part with the spilling of the tea on the Baroness and the two alternative answers. Were you referring to Moe when you wrote that? It’s just that the latter alternative, as you stated, was written in comment #262. But this isn’t so, because I wrote comment #262 and the aforementioned alternative was written in #263, by Moe. Maybe this was a simple error. If you were addressing Moe, then it looks like you won’t get an answer to your question. I could answer it for him, I know what he would probably have said. I think that anyone placed in his situation on this site would say the same thing. So how about it? Trying answering it yourself as you imagine what it was like while being persecuted. I can’t point fingers at anyone in particular, because it seems that we’re all guilty in one way or another.
I’ve got to stop writing so much whenever I make a comment–it’s taking up so much of my time!!! 🙁

I give up, at least I tried to apologize, how about you?
If you guys read further down you’ll see that this whole thing wasnt started by me, I never put out the first insult, I was just asking questions. I’m sorry for trying to defend myself a little bit at the end of my comments. This will be my last post.

TjB, I agree with your comments on a few things. You say that verse and poetry are equal. To me, prose is more powerful because rhyme is restricting.
Second of all, you say that there is no bad poetry. My motto is…There is no bad poetry, only bad poets.
The second is referring to Moe. You defend yourself in comment 262. Tell me, if you were eating dinner with the Baroness of England, and you accidentally spilled tea on her, would you say, “Sorry, your Baroness, I am so sorry!” (yes) or “A sad miscommunication im sorry…i dont mean to insult anyone. People just cant handle the slightest opposition, makes them uptight because they question what they believe lol.” (no!) The latter is from your comment in comment number 262. Thank you for your time, and Joodie, keep writing! And the rest of you!

I’ve been reading this site for a while and I have found out why everyone gets t.o.’ed at Moe. It’s because he always apologizes, but, for example, at the end of comment he will put something rude, “i dont mean to insult anyone. People just cant handle the slightest opposition, makes them uptight because they question what they believe lol.” He just said that Elga or whoever was uptight. SO now she’ll get on again and be mad at you. Moe, your problem is that you always are trying to put in the last word. You need to stop. It’s just stupid and you’re acting childish. If you act this way again I will tell your mother. I know right now you are thinking, “What???”, but trust me, you better watch out.

Don’t worry, Moe, you weren’t hurting anyone intentionally, you were simply giving J. Mark’s poem criticism. If you can’t bear the pressure of criticism as a poet, then you simply can’t use that criticism to improve. Criticism is a very good thing for writers. It provides feedback and (good criticism) offers advice. I could go on all day about how J. Mark’s poem does not connect with Frost’s standards because it is simply not a poem in verse. Frost had expressed throughout his lifetime that he could never write a poem in prose since it goes against his belief in poetic language. This caused difficulties with many other writers at the time because they, unlike Frost, favored prose over verse. It’s nothing to be worried about if a poem isn’t identical to someone else’s–it just means that you have your own poetic voice and form. The meaning can be the same (which is the important part), but the structure doesn’t always matter. J. Mark, your first poem is up to par with Frost’s, it’s just (in my opinion) something Frost may not have entirely accepted. But the times have changed and verse seems to be diminishing as more and more people experiment with prose. I personally am divided between prose and verse. However, I don’t think either one is better than the other. This is some proper criticism. I’ve weighed down the good and bad aspects of the poem (to me, there weren’t really any bad aspects). But how you respond to it (all of you) is entirely up to you, so is your choice whether to revise a poem based off of criticism or not. I’m not just talking to J. Mark and Moe, I’m talking to all of you. So everybody, let’s just give up this harmful charade of name-calling and boo-hooing.

I never insulted anyones poetry until a few messags ago.
I said I didnt agree with j marks interpretation poem, but i said that i like it. After that everyone took it as an insult and then insulted my poem. A sad miscommunication im sorry…i dont mean to insult anyone. People just cant handle the slightest opposition, makes them uptight because they question what they believe lol.

Moe, I believe that prose poetry is just as powerful as verse poetry. Fifty percent of poetry these days is prose. Verse may be the traditional high and lofty form of poetry, but it can become just as meaningless as any prose poem without meaning. This is the problem these days: Many people write something down on paper and call it prose. It doesn’t have to make sense or have any meaning, it’s just poetry. I disagree with this. Poetry, to me, is expression. If you just write something down and call it prose without giving it enough thought (or any at all) then it isn’t a very good poem. I believe that there are no bad poems out there, because whatever one writes, it can always be revised or expanded into something better. I am not pointing fingers at anyone and I don’t think that there is a single bad poet on this site. We all have room for improvement and that’s much better than being someone who is the very best, but can do no better with their poetry.
However, Moe, I understand your frustration. You simply stated your opinion once (although you could be a little less arrogant and proud when you write–don’t worry I have a great deal of pride myself) and you’re being hammered by everyone else for it. I actually feel very disgusted at how all of our comments seem to be turning into childish name-calling when this site was simply meant for posting our opinions of “The Road Not Taken.” Since when has this turned into a chat-site? I hate it when people put other people down for stating their beliefs, just because they don’t agree with them. It’s a personal attack that draws away from what the discussion is about. But I hate it even more when some of us call other people’s poetry crap. That’s not criticism, that’s verbal abuse. This is a poetry website, not a chat-site. My point is, is that I’m very disappointed in those who hammer others on this site just because they have stated their opinions. This is a site promoting the freedom of expression. Anyone can come on to this site and say what they want. Moe, I do think you have become very curt, but I see where you’re comin from. All of you, I know where you’re all coming from. But this abuse has got to stop. There, I got out everything that was on my mind. Thankyou. Keep on writing!

Tjb, I will anser your question yes i did write that. I think Moe does not understand poetry and is putting everyone down. I am an excellent poetry writer and love poetry altogether, but when some twit like moe comes around and starts insulting everyones poetry I put my foot down! Meaness is a horrible thing moe so quit it I am an old lady and in all my years I have never met someone who was so negative. keep writing poetry everyone, even if moe is jealous

I think TJB is right and we are all wrong, you cant dismiss somebody’s poetry if it really poetry. I remember: Serpico is a movie about a cop named Serpico who exposes the corruptness of the NYPD back in the 1970’s– a true story, I suggest it to anyone. Serpico could have joined in on and capitalized on the unlawlessness of the situation, but instead he risked his life to expose the NYPD with the help of the New York Times. Al Pacino plays the lead role, and when he interviewed the real Serpico:
Pacino: “So why did you do it.”
Serpico: “Because if I didn’t, who would I be when I listened to a piece of music.”
He’s right, who are people to write poetry and then be so mean, it is contradictory and shameful. Dont you agree?

Jeez, I think you people just like to hate people. Your poems have no form or meter. They’re basically diarrhea of the mouth and dont have much insight. So what if you have “dramatic” pauses. And get some original ideas, you can’t be inspired by dead leaves and crap all of the time. You people flock together.

I don’t know who keeps doing this, but so far I’ve been impersonated twice on this site, and I’m getting really ticked off. Comments #253 and #259 were not written by me. I never make fun of people nor their poetry. To me, poetry is a sacred literary art, welcome for anyone to take a hand in. It is a universal craft and let me tell you, people, never tell anyone that they can’t or shouldn’t write poetry because then you are not worthy enough to write poetry either. I have never heard of the “Red Mountain Review”–I live in the Pacific Northwestern U.S., away from the Rockies. I also don’t think that E. Shinkle wrote comment #261 (I hope not), because then it would have disregarded what I was saying in comment #256. I cannot stand being misrepresented by anyone. I cannot stand having my personal views and opinions twisted around by anyone. I cannot stand it when some one frames me for anything I didn’t do, and I didn’t write comments #253 and #259. Besides, I was sleeping when the first one was posted, and I was in the Gym when the second one was posted. Please don’t think that I’m a mean person; some one else has been using my name. Besides, you all know me–my comments are never that short. Keep writing poetry, all of you; I like reading them.

Joodie, I think your poem is very good. It is both short and thoughtful–the way I like ’em. I have written something on this website. For those who would like to look at it, I have it posted in the comments section of Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.
Moe, I’ll say it again: I thought the poem you wrote was great and I didn’t think it made us Americans look like we’re from Texas either. The historical allusions in it refer to events and people that existed throughout the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere for that matter. keep on writing poetry, everyone. It’s the only way we can all improve.

People are’nt interpreting it right…..
A seed with wings is he American dream that seems to float around and plant itself and grow in the minds of those looking for it.
What wasnt built to last was Native American culture.
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull had a different version of freedom than “real” Americans, probably a better one, hence they would never be swimming in Beverly Hills- the American Dream Capital.
The Bering Straight is where the Indians first crossed into the Americas during the ice age. Hence, an echo from it reminds Americans of the controversial violence it took to get here.
Holding loads for dear Miss Fanny is a reference to a song by The Band (thats the name) called The Weight.
The narrator of the song goes on an errand for Miss Fanny into a town and everyone he meets gives him another errand after gretting him witha smile, its a song about how people never really can be perfect, impossible sainthood, so loads for Miss Fanny are the sins of our forefathers.
Buying sheet music in Tin Pan Alley just means that America is submitting to the rule of large corporations, and im sure other countries can relate, because Tin Pan Alley was the sheet music capital back in the day, and the sheet music was extremely corporational, to the point where music meant nothing, and thats wrong.
Wyatt and Billy are references to four different people. First: the cowboys Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid, both outlaws and symbols of old frontier. Second: they are the names of two character in the movie Easy Rider, it is about two hippies named Wyatt and Billy riding across the U.S.A. on motorcycles to look for American freedom, only to get shot down by some hicks in the “heartland” of America who couldnt stand their long hair and LSD and most of all, freedom. People in the United States are prone to be like this, though not to the extreme of killing someone.
JFK being stoned from everyone side just means that he went so far out on a limb to expose the mafia and other organized crime networks, and he got killed for doing it. Just goes to show you how righteousness is often snuffed out of our world.
The gold rush dream is was a reference to the gold rush accuring in America, everyone driven by gold. I using a play with words to describe the dream of freedom and good (not the american dream everyone talks about, my american dream. Gold cannot stay, it is true as Robert Frost put it, but ideas can, and have been staying and surviving by anyone wanting something better–hope–is hope not a gold?
As for the last stanza: kings take fair game regimes away, and although that may jsut be my oppinion. But it sometimes seems that our own govt can take fair game away as well.
I hate how this country was founded on Christianity and violence, so I included the part about the guns of Nazareth (birthplace of jesus) to portray a country founded on guns and religion–doesnt seem so right does it?
So thats what the poem means, and I didnt mean it as an interpretation of Road not Taken, i was just suddenly compelled to write it because of other stuff written on the internet about americans, not just on this site. It doesnt make me look like im from texas, it just makes me look like an American dealing with what those before me gave me, and what others give me.

Moe, that was a terrible interpretation of The Road Not Taken. Even John Makr’s second poem was better than yours. American history is totally off subject. I like The Road Not Taken much more than your random interpratation. So far John Mark is in first place wtih his first poem, whatever it was called.

Moe, where did you pull out of your hat that no none on this site likes Americans? They’re all very friendly! I didn’t like your poem all that much because it made us all sound like we’re from Texas. It would make a better poem if it were just about Texas. Does anyone here know how this poem started? I want to know!

Bravo! That is truly an American poem. Historically sound and cheerful. This is, of course, my opinion. But all of you on this site can’t deny that this is a very good poem. It even ties into Frost. Please, everyone, keep posting your poems, I like to read and critique them. That’s all I’ve got to say for now, I don’t have much time to comment on anything else. Goodnight and pleasant dreams, everyone.

First of all… yellow is used in visual works of art to create “warm” visuals. Elga talking about black being happy is rediculous. And if robert frost didnt mean yellow as happy… then why did Robert Frost use yellow as the happiest color of all in Nothing Gold Can Stay? And how come everyone seems to be bashing America on this site, we arent all from texas:

Following a seed with wings,
They set off to find better things.
And trying for their dreams so fast,
They realized what wasn’t built to last.

Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull
Never would swim in a Beverly pool.
They’d eat, sleep, and hunt all day,
Cursing down the “American” way.

Yes an echo on the Bering Straight
Binds the Americans to their fate:
Holding loads for dear Miss Fanny.
Buying sheet music in Tin Pan Alley.

Wyatt and Billy easy ridin’ the line;
One not straight, crooked, or fine.
Looking for the U.S.A.,
They found jail cells and Cassius Clay.

Mr. King had a profound dream:
That blacks and whites can live as a team.
He’s a Superman on a racist day,
Fighting for “truth, justice, and the American way.”

And of course they shot JFK;
Those mobsters dreading judgment day.
They stoned him from every side.
When you’re out that far, there’s nowhere to hide.

So, so much for the gold rush dream,
For existent is “a gold that stays,”
A “hue” that stands for better days.
And people came from all around
Their faces yellow, white, black, and brown.

For it is true about what they say:
That kings take fair game regimes away.
And that the guns of Nazareth hath paved the way
For yet another Independence Day.

Thats a little of how I think of America, in poetic form. I wrote some poetry Elga, what you gonna do bout it. (Spits)

I don’t have much time right now so I’ll just comment on J. Mark’s poem. This more recent one that you’ve posted is interesting. I don’t like it as much as your first. This one seems to me to be more self-explanatory than the first. I personally like implicity in poetry. I feel that the object of poetry is to convey a message to the reader; however, it is done in a way that causes the reader to question and contemplate the piece. I myself have written some pieces: more traditional than freestyle. In fact I recently completed a villanelle that I’m constantly revising. I probably won’t post it for comments until I’m satisfied that it’s totally finished, don’t ask me when that will be. E. Shinkle, I also think your poem is very nice. However, I favor implicit over explicit. I see that you can do lots with your poetry, and that’s a good thing. Bye!

John Mark, that is a wonderful piece of poetry. TjB, I have found out what the meaning is behind this piece of poetry. A poet on this site named Joodie, a very old woman I should think, inspired him to write this when she told him a piece of her life story. She had made some very bad mistakes. It is all in Robert Frost: The Biography, which is a very good read. I was surprised to find it in my local library. It didn’t need to be translated because this Romanian (she insists that she is Bulgarian, though) knows English too, as you can see from her comments on this sight. I was dissappointed to find that someone impersonated her. They told a Ross that she wasn’t really a poet or something like that. Good luck to Joodie and John Mark, you both are excellent poets. John Mark, if you are showing your worst poetry on this sight, then your good poetry must be amazing!

Because you all seem to adore my poetry, I have decided to write another. It is a more improved interpretation of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.”

As I walk along the scattered leaves
I can feel my heart breaking inside
This path is full of brambles and thorns
I would take the road back
But I cannot find the way
Because my tracks have disappeared
I have not left strong imprints
I look for a way back through the trees
While all the others walk past me
I cannot find a path and I keep walking
Down the road frequently travelled
I reached the end in a sunny meadow
And there I saw my friend who I had left
So long ago
Though my path was harder
They both lead to the same place
We discover a new path together
It is the only visibl path out of here
It is is covered in dead leaves and thorns
Brambles and obstacles
My friend, who had taken the easier road
Was hurt easily
He laid down and had to rest
He soon died
It turned out that the road less taken
Was a short road

Thank you very much for letting me write this. I love analyzing this poem because it is one of my favorites. Comment on it, please.

Moe I disagree with your interpretation. Now I see why John Mark 3 calls you a “mere” american. Yellow is not a happy color. Yellow is like the sun. When people touch the sun they roast to a crisp, not very happy eh? Black is more of a happy color than yellow because eit helps people fall into dreams and dreams are nice. I have a tip, don’t write poetry. We should all listen to John Mark’s poetry it is lovely. I have a poem for all you poetry fans.

Lost
I lost something dear to my heart
very dear
Oh how I miss it
I wish for it every night
I can’t live without it
Some vile person ripped out my heart
literally
I fell to the ground stone cold
I am freezing in my grave
I needed my heart to live
But now I have learned to live without it

Okay, I understand what “Mere” is now. But I don’t agree with John Mark’s interpretation or his poem, although his poem was great, really–with the obviously dead leaves taking away the scent, good stuff, but that poem would be a great substitute for Nothing Gold Can Stay–another Frost poem that is actually about THAT kind of loss. THAT poem is about the death of youth, time gone by, etc. I think the poem (Road not Taken) is mainly about Frost’s satisfaction with the road that he has taken; the fact that he takes a road and cannot turn back is just an aside, or non existent. I say this because he describes the roads as equally traveled by–
“Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.”
The wood in which he is writing about is a yellow wood, and yellow is generally the symbolic of happyness–a warm color. Black is obviously the opposite, and he writes that no leaves have been trodden black and that the paths are equal. He realizes that “way leads on to way,” and that he cannot turn back, but is still happy with the road taken. He sees the road that he took as wanting wear (in his mind), and that in reality both were the same, leading into an equally colored wood whose two paths could have lead to equally infinite possibilities.

Tiff, I am answering your P.S. question from the comment that you posted about Frost’s “The Road…”
I believe that Frost really did receive inspiration from a diverging path that he happened to walk through one day. Inspiration can come to us in any form and at any time. I, for one, am a Cross Country runner so I’m always faced with diverging roads. I hold within my heart the knowledge that whatever road I take, it will either lead me to the same destination as any other road, or I can always retrace my steps. I’ve never read anything on how Frost was inspired to write “The Road…”, but like I said, inspiration comes to us in any form. I don’t know if you were looking for a textbook answer or not, but I hope that you, and those who read this message, will have obtained some answers for questions concerned with writing poetry from my response. I myself am not the best poet, and I don’t have all of the answers. But I myself am also human–this, I believe, can be perceived as poetry.

Personaly I thought Jonh Mark 3’s interpretation was excellent and I applaud him. It was truly inspiring and I think it it is even better then Robert Frosts poem. I know some people might not understand the elegance of the poem but to me it was just so wonderful. Mark I want you to keep witing poetry I know 1 day you will be a famous poetry writer even if some foolish people on this website don’t understand it. They are all just jealous of your sofisticated poem. Those that do not get the poem should not get angry at pure talent. I am a wonderful writer and have always wanted to publish a poem book. If you would like to hear 1 from it you may ask me. Now I think Moe is just a person who doesn’t understad good poetry. Moe you should just be quiet and let Jonh Mark 3 do his poetry since it is obvious you dont have any skill in writing poetry. I think Robert Frost would be happpy with John’s poem so you should just keep your trap shut. Good day

Tiff, it probably does seem confusing that I compliment J. Mark’s poem, then turn around and make it appear that I perceive him as a ninny. I am critical of other people in the sense that I will compliment them then criticize them. I, too, took offense at J. Mark’s words, but I also understand that he is free to state his opinions. It was probably out of ignorance of the term “mere” that I did not comprehend the meaning that was being used. However, one cannot expect someone else to understand everything he/she understands. That in itself is ignorance. Moe, I sympathize with you since you’re being bludgeoned by others for simply stating your opinions. Loud, obnoxious Americans like us see it as the “American Way”–that’s a little bit of sarcasm for you folks. I was being serious when I said that I liked J. Mark’s poem. J. Mark, you have talent and if you haven’t published anything yet, you should (especially the poem you wrote in your comment since there’s always a chance that someone could plagarize you). Please do not think that I seem obnoxious and/or totally bias myself (all people are bias; it’s just a fact of life), I am also simply stating my opinions. If I have ever offended anyone on the web, then please forgive me and understand I was simply exercising my rights. But remember this everyone, you should have some expectation that other people will not always understand what you’re saying. Be sensitive to this fact, for your words can hurt others without intention.

I’m not really taking sides here, but, TjB, you said these two things that confuese me: “First of all, J. Mark, I find your interpretation to be satisfyingly truthful and informative…Perhaps J. Mark believes that the meaning is beyond the majority of us.”

I don’t understand why you like his interpretation but then you act like he is acting fancy or something.

I think John Mark souns pretty smart if you ask me.

P.S. this is the best poem ever. I really like what it’s message is. I’d like to know if anyone knows how Frost thought of it or what inspired him to write it.

Moe, if you had any tolerance of other cultures, you would’ve known that “Josna” is a woman’s name. I am not a “he” as you so delicately put it. The coffee I am talking about is from van Gogh’s painting “The Potato Eaters.” You obviously have never seen it. It is a painting of a poor family drinking several cups of coffee. It was van Gogh’s idea that most Americans (the people in the painting) drank many cups of coffee each day for dinner. A man named Mere criticized the family because most Americans don’t drink more than one cup of coffee each day if any. The term “mere” was coined as a term for Americans woh don’t like coffee very much. Thus the term “mere American.” I belive you thought that he was saying “mere” as in “puny, unimportant, stupid.”

John Mark, once again, I applaud your poem. It was a very good interpretation of The Road Not Taken. Joodie I hope you comment on this poem more. I am astounded by your fountain of knowledge. Bulgarians certainly are very intelligent, even if Moe does hate them. Hopefull no more mere Americans will critisixe John Mark’s work of art.

First of all, J. Mark, I find your interpretation to be satisfyingly truthful and informative of “The Road…”; Moe, don’t get upset, you and I as Americans are little different from people in other countries. Perhaps J. Mark believes that the meaning is beyond the majority of us. I don’t think that he was malicious went he wrote it.
“The Road…” is a very thoughtful poem about the choices we make throughout our lives–whether they were good or bad, we may never know. I hold this poem close to me because I am at the stage in my life where the slightest decisions can effect my future as a college student and beyond–my life afterwards depends upon the outcomes of these decisions. Years from now, I will look back upon my life and will try to evaluate my decisions–whether I made good choices or not. However, we cannot dwell on our past decisions. Like in the narrative “Youth”, by Conrad, most of the decisions we make when we’re young help to shape our character and it doesn’t really matter whether they were good or not–they were, in a way, good at the moment. So when you, too, look back on your life, remember this: the road you have taken “has made all the difference.”

Moe, by “mere” American, he is trying to say that Americans typically don’t drink more than one cup of coffee each day. John Mark, I liked your interpretation very much. You should try to publish it in a magazine.

robert frost’s poem certainly makes a strong statement about human nature, but his subtlety forces us to go beyond his words to find our own answers, & i think it is here were our unique interpretations of the poem are perpetuated.
Everyone has either traversed a path in life or is approaching one, yet the start and end of many journeys is hardly well defined. A “Yellow wood” can be taken as imagery for autumn, a season which invokes a sense of idleness & morbidity (dead leaves?). Perhaps this reflects frost’s state of mind prior to his desiscion (depression?). This makes an important comment on the nature of journeys and their significance in defining ourselves.
The title itself “the road not taken” has two literal contexts.. That our uniqueness is the product of taking the road “less travelled by”… & human emotions of regret/remorse/dissatisfaction… Some have commented that the later is more correct, that frost was reminiscing about the path he did not take, and that somehow he felt loss over it. But it is important to remember that in english there is no ‘wrong’ interpretation, and anything that can be drawn from the text should be accredited to it.

Sarah, i am afraid that you are sorrowly mistaken in your analysis of this poem. Frost is not talking about the road less traveled, he says right out in the 4th stanza that both roads are equally covered by leaves and neither has been marked by footprints. This poem is not talking about the road less traveled it is talking about the road that he was not able to take, and how leater in life when he looks back on it he will think of the road that he did take as the one less traveled, when in fact neither roads were traveled and he just picked one.

This is a great poem. I have readed this about 30 or 40 times because it goes with my life. Should I go to College or not. What road should I take. I am in grade 10 and I have about 2 years left I am going to go down the road with challenges. I want to go to college. I will be the first one in my family. I have so much stuff about this. So this is why I Love this POEM.

I think it is a very interesting poem. It states that to make your own choices. Dont be a sheep,dont follow the crowd. It is a soft,vibrant and touching poem. Frost uses simplicity and reality in his poetry especially this one The Road Not Taken.

He has warmth and depth in his writing.He has a nostalgia walking along with his friend Edgar Woods.I know I will remember this poem. Will You?

I was analyzing this poem for English class, and it has become a favorite of mine based on my interpretation thus far. Of course, everyone here has different interpretations, different idease about the history behind the poem, etc. Based on the content of my literature textbook and my own interpretation, I can assume I’ve analyzed the poem correctly, and I could easily write a few paragraphs to show you all my point of view, but I doubt that would do much good – someone would just tell me I was wrong. I think most poems are meant to be read and understood differently by different people – and everybody is entitled to their own opinion.

um, ross, it was just a joke, okay? we like the poem but we’re not crazy like you are. as an american would say, you are the weakest link, goodbye!
READ MY INTERPRETATION OF HIS POEM ON THE 3RD OR 2ND PAGE IT ROCKS!

… is apparently poor, and while his psuedo-bulgarian friend did apparently write this biography the question is still begged; who the blazing hell needs even the faintest interpretation for work as worthless, obvious, hallmark, and hokey as that of the late robert frost. this poem in particular means nothing to any human being except 12 year old ostrasized boys, pregnant teenagers, and 43 year old balding male who have just recieved a minor promotion at a supermarket downtown and need a poster to hang over the hole in their new office wall that will, according to corperate, “inspire the staff towards meeting goals and a strong work ethic”. in closing i would suggest that john mark the third catch a train to chester at night and attempt to climb the old city wall so that, by the rest of the worlds good fortune, some soul might mistake you for a welshman and shot you to death with a crossbow. cheers.
– ross wiley

Hi Chesneva, Joe told me about this website. I didn’t know that you would be on it. I liked you interpretation. I’ve never heard one like it by someone who hasn’t read your biography, so I thought it was pretty cool. It really captured the essence of the poem. By the way, who is this Jan G. who you’re talking to? Is she part of the group? She sounds intelligent from the part I read that she wrote.

My apologies to Joodie and John Mark III. You guys were right. This poem really is based off that biography. Sorry guys I was mistaken. I hope no one was misled by my false information. I guess now we can all let go and take a breath.

Vanessa, I can hardly believe that you had the nerve to correct one of the greatest poets alive! You most certainly must be an inexperienced poet. Her poem was an excellent interpretation, based off of “Robert Frost: The Biography” I believe. It does seems odd to some, Vanessa, such a strange interpretation not for shallow minds, but to experienced poets, it is quite beautiful. Please forgive “Joodie,” as she calls herself (that isn’t her real name, of course, I’m sure most people have figured that out who have read this) for being quite rude today. I’m sure she must be having a writer’s block of some sort or other. I have been to one of her speeches before, and she is a delightful person in real life.

Also, Jan G. of Germany, I would like to know more about you, and also wonder why you are questioning “Joodie” as well. What job do you have? This concerns me, all these people correcting “Joodie,” as she humbly calls herself.

Also, “Joodie”, are you not from Romania? If you are who I think you are, you most certainly are not Bulgarian. Bulgarians and Romanians, both jolly good people of course, doesn’t matter either way, but I do believe that you put down the incorrect country (to disguise yourself, of course).

1. If poetry, such as any work of art, cannot be understood or appreciated without background information, it is simply not very good – it is as easy as that. Fortunately, Frost’s poetry does not belong to that latter category.

Of course additional background reading can help to support or invalidate interpretations, but it is no substitute for thorough analysis of the text itself (as any literary critic worth his salt will tell you).

2) Perhaps you are referring to the biography by Meyers or the one by Thompson & Winnick (both of which are called “Robert Frost: A Biography”), but since you have not indicated the author’s name there is no way to tell. I doubt that anyone would be so arrogant as to call their book “Robert Frost: THE Biography”, implying it’s the definitive one.

3) The problem with that interpretation is: If it cannot be proven from the poem itself, it is not a valid interpretation. Creative, for sure, but it does not have much to do with Frost’s poem.

1) As I have tried to point out, my interpretation does not rely on secondary literature (or indeed what I have read on the internet) but on a close-reading analysis of the poem itself. I got to my interpretation when I first noticed that much of what is all too often said about this poem did not add up and only afterwards started to do a little bit of research, just to find out that my interpretation was in accordance with what I found on the biographical background of the poem and that I was indeed not the only one reading the poem like that.

2) Of course there is a lot of garbage on the internet, which is why you have to learn to distinguish which sites are (probably) reliable and which are suspicious. If a reputable institution such as the Department of English of an American university publishes a page, containing lengthy excerpts from several works of secondary literature (cf. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/road.htm), complete with bibliographical data, I see no reason to doubt the reliability of the information given there. The bibliographical data regarding the book you’re quoting, on the other hand, is incomplete (e.g. who is the author?), and frankly I am not aware of a book by that title – and besides, not everything published in print is reliable either.

3) As to what you are referring to as your interpretation: You have written a poem somehow inspired by “The Road not Taken”. Nothing wrong with that, but I don’t see where you are taking the imagery of death and physical failure from, and the (religious?) aspect of being saved is not in Frost’s poem either – unless what you are saying can be proven from the poem itself rather than from some work of secondary literature, the term “interpretation” is a bit misleading here (at least in an academic sense).

@googie: You’re right that “The Road not Taken” was inspired by Frost’s friend Edward Thomas. However, Frost did not write his poem because he was disappointed in his friend’s choices but because Thomas constantly regretted his own choices, wondering whether the other path would have been better after all – which Frost seems to have found quite amusing.

In other words Frost wrote this poem in order to tease Thomas about his pointless sentimentality – and that is exactly what can be found out about this poem just by reading it closely and carefully, even without consulting any secondary material. (Apart from the name Edward Thomas, of course, but the fact Thomas can be seen as being representative of all people who constantly reflect about their choices in hindsight is what give additional relevance to this poem.)

This poem is in fact about Robert and his friend Thomas, also a famous poet. Robert is sarcastically mocking Thomas. The two went on a walk one day and came across two paths leading to different destinations in this beautiful wood that Thomas was so fascinated in. Apparently Robert was disapointed in the choice made by Thomas and thought the other path was best. This is the reason why the poem is so famous because of people such as yourself have all made incorrect assumptions on this poems meaning and purpose. Research this poem on the internet and know your facts.

It really is a shame how many people claim that this is their favourite poem, even though they have clearly only read it superficially without making any attempt at thoroughly analyzing Frost’s clever lines – thus completely ignoring his irony.

In the first three stanzas the speaker remembers a walk in the forest, explaining again and again that, in spite of what he initially says, there really was no difference between the two roads: The first was “just as fair” as the second, they were “worn […] really about the same” and both of them “equally lay” covered in leaves that had not been stepped on.

In the fourth stanza he says how he will probably talk about this decision when he is older – and the exaggeration in the words “ages and ages hence” should be a clear warning signal of the irony that is to come: All of a sudden there *will* be a distinct difference between both roads – in other words he will either be lying or simply be sentimental (“with a sigh”) because his memories have been clouded by the years gone by. What is more, even though his decision to take one road instead of the other does not seem to have affected his life so far – at least he does not say anything to this effect – he expects that he will make his idealised and embellished version of the past responsible for the future course of life.

To sum things up, “The Road not Taken” is not about the importance of decisions in life but rather an ironic comment on sentimental people. Interestingly enough, Frost’s own remarks about this poem support the points I have made, but frankly, it is not necessary to rely on biographies, letters and diary entries to come to this interpretation – reading the poem carefully and digging beneath its surface is all that is needed.

Wake up people!!! What is the real “difference” that frost is talking about??? that i don’t understand. Otherwise this poem is so wonderful!! Robert Frost is really a beautiful poet. My talent is also poetry.

i am only 14 and this poem means so much to me….
it actually gives me hope of things- telling me no matter how hard things get, some thing good always comes out of it. i write my own poems but they will never be as good as this one.i hope someone will email me and ask for one of my poems. i need to know how they sound… please

oh the pain oh the agony
i feel it in my brittle bones
i think I’ll lie down and die
but first i should take the road less taken
because then I will be saved
then I will have brittler bones
oh me, oh me

Frost was a pretty dark man, this poem kind of proves that. Read it again, the two paths were the same, he said he took the road less traveled, but how can that be? It may have made all the difference in the world, but what it comes down to is that like all things in life you had a choice to make, right or wrong, you’ll end up lying about the outcome ages henceforth, and sigh a little sigh a what could have been.

to me, this poem is a great example of how, to make the right choice, you hav to examine both the advantages and the disadvantages of both options. you hav to know where you want to go but to do this you hav to awknowledge the consequences. its a great poem and when read properly, it can mean a lot.

I think that the poem is very inspiring and would recommend it to all poem lovers!!! i think its about facing 2 paths that u have 2 choose but you can only choose 1. the harder 1 might be the best option

I like this poem because it really explains the decisions that you take in your life. If you choose to take the harder road you will get more out of it, and instead of taking the easy road which everybody else would do.

i think the poem is about having to make a choice in your life that you wont be able to make again. the traveller chooses the option that not many people have made and he finds it was the best way to go and he doesnt regret his decision.

the fork in the road can represent anything. You can take one, but not the other…a hard choice, one you will never be faced with again.
Frost describes this dilemma in a metaphor form. The metaphor being the paths are life changing descisions in life.
We will all be faced with one of these in our lifetime.
I believe Frost shared his problem descriptivly and emotionally. It’s a wonderful poem that everyone should read.

for me he didnt took anyof the roads he made his own road and so many perople chosse the wroong road every day in this poem i heard sad and worried because he fogot to do sometinhg int he past and he dindt get done so my opinion is the if don let for tomorrow wath you can get done today and leader not a folower

Robert Frost is in a very big dilemma and his decision is really tough because it will change his life: Notice when he reports, “yellow wood”, by wood he means the forest and yellow represents the yellow leaves which fall in the autumn (so maybe he is refering to a specific season, too) and they bloom again! It also says the word, “traveller”: traveller is not only a person who walks, maybe you can travel by swimming or any other way! Which means he was ready for this tough decision, he Knew that the two paths were gonna be difficult!

I belive that Robert Frost is talking about two things in his life. One thing is the one that everybody knows, and the other is the one that only a few people tryed. By taking the road less traveled he learns a whole lot af new things. And taking the road less traveled had made all the diferese.

I believe this is a poem about fear and regret. In the beginning of the poem the speaker is in a “yellow wood” representing a fearful decision. He could have choose path# 1; safe and familiar or path# 2; fearful and unknown. He had glorious ideas about his future and ventured out onto path# 2. He however stepped carefully through life as to not burn any bridges “In leaves no step had trodden black.” This was done so that if path# 2 got too scarey he could always go back to the safe and familiar path “Oh, I kept the first for another day!” But as his life continued it’s journey he found that he was not truely willing to venture the unknown and found that what was once safe and familiar is now just a memory. You will notice as he states later in life he will tell the story with a sigh. He no longer mentions his fear or that he can not take both roads. In essence the road not taken is one without fear.

this poem says that in a life’s journey you must decide to go to the different road and experience a lot of new things than the road that you always crossed over and over again in that way you can make a lot of differences….

Based on the words chosen by Robert Frost and the phrasing, this poem can be interpreted to mean that he has to choose between two women. Poets quite often use the archaic meaning of a word in their works. The archaic meaning for ‘fair’ is ‘woman esp. sweetheart’.

The use of the word ‘sigh’ indicates that the choosing is difficult. The phrase ‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I’ indicates that he is torn by this decision. More torn than just a stroll in the woods or a career decision would make anyone.

May be poet wants to say that it is easy to follow the path taken by others but when u choose something different u explore and enjoy the adventure of doing something nobody ever did.
Or may be poet wants to tell us that don’t follow the crowd or choose something where all want to go. Instead choose the way you want to go and that’s the way u can change your life from others and make a difference. The last paragraph of the poem depicts lots of meanings because one time the poet says I sign and then he says that’s something makes difference. Which means may be he was not happy with his decision before and then he tried to convicne himself that atleast he did something different in his life.

I also thought that may be poet wants to say that the two roads are like life. One is when u follow others and do what others do , live a life like them or other one where u choose your own life and do what you want to do. You may or may not regret in the future for missing the chance of taking your decision and doing what you wanted to do. You may be happy when you do what others do or may not. But If u do what u want to doyou would be happy anyways whether you suceed or not.

May be he wants to inspire us to decide what we want to do and take a chance learn how to live and just like the road our life would be adventurous because we don’t know what will come next and where will it lead us to. Also in the starting of the poem he says two roads diverged in a yellow wood, which means the poet is in yellow woods, why was he in woods? I mean may be he wanted to say that just like the woods or the forest are away from our home, far and has no way in or out, same way there are times in our life when we have to pick one and find our own way. the woods I guess depicted the confusion of mind.

this poem was and is one of my favourites. i used to think frost was talking about his own life until i read some of his websites and found out that he was only mocking a friend of his! but what great impact this poem has on all of us, on the decisions we make that change the course of our lives. only in retrospect that we know whether those decisions are right or wrong, hence ‘telling it with a sigh’ as nothing can be done to change it. i personally dont think its regret..just a once-in-a-blue moon thing when we think ‘what might have been if..’

I taught this poem to a class of 13 yr olds (usually quite restless!)…but they seemed to have related to all that Frost says in this poem. There was much scope here for relating the poem’s “message” to the lives of the children. I’m planning to do a lesson next time comparing this poem to “Stopping by the Woods..” any suggestions anyone???

I have read some of the other comments, and I agree with alot of them but all in all I think it’s just a great poem with lots of feeling. I don’t think he regrets the road he took in the poem whether it applies to his life or not. I think he was referring to life in general. Everyone has tried to take a different road and wind up on the road that everyone else took, but later on in life you wind up back where they started. I think “The Road Not Taken” is a very inspiring poem.

i haven’t read all the comments that were made on the poem, but the few that i read seem to have the same ideas and i think they might not be entirely correct. i think frost is talking about regret, “I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence”
he took the road less traveled but realized later in life that both roads were the same, he might have wanted to take the other road but knew he shouldn’t. in the end he is the same person, he did not change even though he took the road less traveled and he might regret that.

Most people seem to overlook that both roads were equally traveled. It says so three times in the poem. There seems to be some irony in the ending; was that road really the least traveled, or is the poet idealizing his past?

Keep in mind that the last stanzas are not a summary of the entire poem, but instead are only as important as what precedes them.

For me, this poem is the BEST EVER that I’ve read. So simple yet so touching. I am glad that the Malaysian Ministry of Education had chosen this awesome poem as one of the poems in our compulsory literature study. So glad that I have learnt it here in Malaysia.

I am amazed at all the comments on the past. “Did I take the right road?” This poem speaks to me of the future. Have I looked to see if there are other roads than the obvious that I should be exploring?

For me this poem confirms that no matter what road you take you can not go back to take the other. However, if you allow God to be the Captian of your journey you will be blessed no matter which path you take.

This has always been my favorite poem. I tend to apply it to my religious life…narrow is the gate that leads to heaven…unfortunatly its the one less taken… I try to always take the road less taken. I love this poem, it has helped me so much.

The Road Not Taken has been my favorite since I was in high school and we sang it in choir. It touched my heart then and still does. I used it speech class in college and when my husband and I renew our wedding vows, we are going to use it as part of the service.

I think that it is an inspiring song as I sang it in a choir a month ago in Symphony Hall. The most famous building in central Birmingham! A man from the UK wrote it especially 4 us. Its brilliant the wordz r amazing 2 sing.

this poem really makes you take a step back and take a look at your life. it makes me wonder what if i would have taken the other road? this poem is offering a strange sort of comfort right now because now i’m standing in that clearing looking as far down both roads as i can trying to see which one i should take. it offers comfort to me knowing that neither is better or worse just different.

“The Road Not Taken” is one of the most powerful, profound and inspiring pieces of poetry that man has ever produced.

Until you have experienced the journey of life, until you have any idea what you are talking about, criticise this superb piece of verse and be prepared to lose face. This is one of the greatest poems of our time.

Poems can be interpreted in many wayz thiz poem made me think twice about the little thingz like apperance dont call namez to the people wh dislike the poem 4 thatz their opinion and there intitled to it cuz az i said poemz r interpreted in may wayz

WOW that touched my heart in many different ways. We read this poem out lound in class an i was the only one to stnad up and tell them what it ment to me and i earned a A for your poem beacuase it touched me in many many different ways i think you should keep righting poems like this
Love always & Forever
Kaleena Ann Smith

This poem is a superb way to look at life and the different paths that one can take. It is written exelently and has no flaws. For SARA, ANNE, & BRITTANY you are all DUMBASSES! Learn how to understand poetry and then place some real comments. Posting Comments is not for the Poeticly Chalenged!

Well this poem is a wonderful poem for people that have a brain to understand it, not like Sara from Ecuador with her STUPID ASS COMMENT and that doesnt know how to spell. but i loved it it was a great everlasting mystery…

This poem does NOT hook me in any way. i don’t understand why not, it just doesn’t work for my mind. The thing i loathe, is when schools and teachers make you analize poems to DEATH!!! maybe the author didn’t want you to think that. maybe he/she just wanted you to have a good read and enjoy it and maybe take it in whatever way your mind decided to go.

This poem is good when but when you sing it in choir is is HORRIBLE!! The intro sucks and the notes aren’t that much better but then again only a dumbass would choose this as a song to sing…poems are meant for reading not singing. Great Job whoever thought that it would be a good thing…your a dumbass! How’s that for poetic lisence?

Poetry holds within its grasp and everlasting mystery that is interpreted differently amoung each person. I find it interesting how similar all the interpretations there are of this poem. I feel this is a cleary metephorical poem (no duh) about the coices we make in life and how we can never turn back time. (p.s. the matrix has you john… follow the pink elephants…)

Poetry holds within its grasp and everlasting mystery that is interpreted differently amoung each person. I find it interesting how similar all the interpretations there are of this poem. I feel this is a cleary metephorical poem (no duh) about the coices we in life and how we can never turn back time. (p.s. the matrix has you john… follow the pink elephants…)

I love this poem! It is one of the ones I have really taken to heart. It has a wonderful message. I love that it talks about something meaningful, unlike most poems today. It’s a great metaphor and a superb example of poetry at it’s finest. Always remeber make your own path!!

I first read this in english class and I love how this poem says not to follow others and to make your own chioces. Not to do what everyone else is dong. I normally hate poetry, but this poem is really something.

I really enjoyed this poem. I love the way its written. It has a deeper meaning than just words. It sees past the superficial meaning of poetry. It’s more than words just thrown together to make a cool sounding poem. The words of this poem resinate through my mind.

The Road Not Taken is a poem that has countless people questioning the meaning behind the words. Poems are not met to be diesected word for word. The reader must decide for his/her own meaning.
This poem was written about Edward Thomas, who was a close friend of Robert Frost. Robert wrote this poem because his friend would regret a road they walk down. But this poem is a symbol for people to take their own road, to be different, and not look back at their choices though life. I wish critcs would leave this poem alone.

It think it is a really touching poem all about making choices in life and not regretting them because sooner or later you will need to face the consequences and there will be no turning back. have no regrets live life to the full

I thought that Robert Frost’s Poem: The Road not Taken was much like Makenzie Call’s Poem: Janetta and Me. Not many people have read this poem, but it talks about to roads that Janetta took. It is a verry excellent and well written poem. I advice anyone intrested in the great American litterature to pick it up immediatly. I have read that poem countless times while relaxing on the beaches of mexico and California. that reminds me… One time while baby sitting by young sister, I was watching this one T.V. show. There where these two people talking, and one of the characters said, “No, that’s not how you do it” It was the funniest thing I’ve ever read.

I read this poem in 8th grade..but i didn’t understand it as much as i could now…beacause now i am doing a research paper on it…and it seems much easier to understand now. The poem is one of my favourites which is quite touching…

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN is a poem that reminds us me the chutzpah that each one of us has. We often see in other people or in our own lives how they/we pass life without ever waking up. They/we never dare to make a choice that will free our souls to celebrate and joyously ponder on the meaning of life. Frost succeeded in awakening in us the power of the chutzpah. … the road less travelled by … that certainly has made all the difference. … this poem reminds me of a 19th century English poet, William Wordsworth, who wrote in his beautiful TINTERN ABBEY …

… for I have learned
to look on nature, not as in the hour
of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
the still, sad music of humanity,
nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
to chasten and subdue. And I have felt
a presence that disturbs me with the joy
of elevated thoughts; a sense of sublime
of something far more deeply interfused,
whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky; and in the mind of man, …

My father introduced me to this poem on my 16th birthday, so it reminds me of him. He wanted to teach me the importance of being my own person, following my own heart, going my own way. I cherish these words now more than ever, as I and my father get older.

I first heard this poem last year in 5th grade for my declemation contest. Ithought that the lyrics were awesome and sooo touching im doing it agian for a report. Whenever Robert Frost is mentioned, im like oh my gosh, i luvvvv his poem the Road Not taken. If he could write some more poems such as this one, i would soooo read them!

The Road not Taken By is a poem that deals with desicion macking. In life
you have many chooses you either choose to go with the crowde or you take a stand and make your own decision about things. This poem is a great poem based on the facts of which road you are tacking and the decisions yuo make in life.

I think this poem speaks to the idea of a person being true to himself or herself. It says, though I am like others (“just as fair,” “equally lay” ), I must chose my own way in the world, and not necessarily go where others have gone before, or even where others usually go. And in the course of my life, being true to myself (taking the road less traveled) “has made all the difference.”

This poem has inspired me because I have been in situations that I didn’t know which direction to go. I have a close friend that wants me to take this job with him, and I know that most kids my age would take it, but I know that the rode I’m taking everything will work out just as good.
I would recommand this poem to anyone…maybe my friend.

I really love this poem. I was once chosen to reite this poem by heart in the sixth grade when I read it I fell in love with it. I really recommend this poem to evreyone. It’s a little something for when you’re felling stressed out.

I have never been too interested in poetry before,being 13, but now that I am doing this school project and I’ve learned to like it.

This is the first poem i have read that really spoke to me. I interpreted it saying that there are many ways to do something,even though a lot of those ways may seem the same. People usually take the road others have taken before them. yet sometimes it isn’t the best road to take. So by taking the right “road” it could be the most fulfilling in the end. There-for being proud of you your choice.

i really like this poem, its helped me alot in life about decisons, and that jsut go with your instinct, i often refer to this poem for that kinda stuff. Robert Frost is a really talented author, but i like this poem of his the best.

If you look carefully, you will see that the two roads are actually pretty much the same (“just as fair,” “equally lay”). In the last stanza, the speaker is recalling the experience and glorifying the past. He now remembers that one of the roads was less travelled by and is proud that he took it. I believe Frost is commenting on our habit of sentimentalizing our past decisions. Beneath our false memories lies our regret and fear that we might have made the wrong decision. Ultimately, beneath the speaker’s false pride is a sad wondering about the road not taken. The speaker is probably not aware of this sadness, since he, like most people who read this poem, tends to miss the details and continues to lie to himself and others about his failure to live in the moment. What do you think?

WHEN I READ THIS POEM I ALWAYS INTERPRET IT DIFFERENTLY. AS OF RIGHT NOW I SEE IT AS A PERSON WHO HAS A PROBLEM AND THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO SOLVE IT. THERE IS THE MOST POPULAR WAY TO SOLVE IT (THE ROAD THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN TRAVELED MULTIPLE TIMES). OR THE MORE ACURATE WAY OF SOLVING IT (THE ROAD NOT TAKEN)

I like this poem very much because it is easily relatable, everyone goes through this everyday. What makes it so enjoyable is how well it is explained and that it still stays within the boundry of poetry.

Robert Frost’s poetry is consistant in it’s apparent simplicity. It can be understood and appreciated by very young readers. But, it is much deeper in meaning than it at first appears. I love his simple style and deep connection with reality.

This poem has some of the most significant meaning of any poem. What I love about this poem is that it does not simply just say the moral but, gives it to you in a creative, exciting, and well written way. The moral of the poem in my opinion is that if you do not go with the crowd it can result in extreme sucess or a less sucess

I look at the poem as a spiritual journey. I picture a monk who must not live like the general public, but must live a very disciplined life to attain enlightenment. It is very hard, but when he attains enlightenment, he is fully satisfied in every way.

I like this poem because it really explains the decisions that you take in your life. Whenever you take one road there is no turning back. This poem is nice but it seems a little to happy. Which is kind of weird because not all the decisions or roads that we take are the right ones. I guess in his case it does.:D

i thought this poem was really good it shows that theres two roads and that you have to make a choice and just hope you took the best one for your situation
i hope that every one gets the meaning like me
thank you
micheala

The poem gives us an insight on how beautiful life is because of the choices we can make. It’s either grassy or wanted wear. But certainly nobody wants to have a bad future, we want all to have a good life, but whether good or bad, we have to be careful that choices that we can make.It made the difference.

Okay, now I heard this poem was good froma friend.. but I didnt know how good.. till I actually saw it.. read it.. and took it all in. This is perfect.. and great.. everything all at once… ~absolute perfection~!!!!

I think that Robert Frost is a very wise and incredible poet. For some people it may be hard to understand the meaning of this poem but it is because you aren’t really looking or you don’t want to understand it. To me it means that the are many roads to take in life anf every person has to choose the road that they want to take and you have to follow it. It is being compared to the journey in life and that the road you take me be successful or it wasn’t the right decision but it was your choice. This poem has a great meaning for inspiration and you have to dedicate yourself.

I like that you ask questions Amanda. Your skepticism will make you a wonderful wife some day. However, Amanda, you must ask yourself this: Did God intend for us to think about our lives and the world around us? Did God intend to give us dreams and rivers and trees just so we could enjoy them? Or are they conduits to God’s kingdom? I believe you must choose, my dear. As for me, I no longer have a choice.

I am not heavily into peotry. In fact, I’m not even lightly into poetry but as I have to analyse a poem for school, I have chosen The Road Not Taken. As far as poems go, I don’t mind this one.

I have read so many interpretaions of the meaning of this poem and I’m sure there is some truth in all of them. But I have to wonder if, when poets write their poetry, do they intend for poeple to analyse their poems to such a level? Many poets or writers whose works have been analysed say that they were actually writing about something far more trivial. I think this poem does contain metaphors for life but I do wonder if they were intended.

i am in 9th and i like the poem because it tells us many things. it tells us that every one has to make many choices in life at each and every moment.in the poem the diverging paths has been compared to the journey of life.it is a biographical poem.
thats all i want to say.

this poet and this piece this poet has written is great it showed that in life u only have obe path to take so you need to choose it wiseley.. thses roads for me have been what to do and what not to do and i have made both good and bad decisions in each i feel that in each u need to make mistakes but you need to learn from them…i have always tried to choose the best but the outcome wasnt always like that..but this poem should touch your heart and show that u have the choice in LIFE!

I have a question for those people who think this poem has a smart guy chosing a better path. How did he know which road was better? He did not, so therefore his decision was based on luck. Also, the two paths were the same. It was his “destiny” to chose the “correct” path, even though the path he didn’t take could have been better.

It is actually beleived that the horse in the scene symbolises the physical and worldy needs of a human being which urge him to move away and not spend the time before a mysrerious forest;the forest which ,on the other hand ,stands for the spritual parts of the man kind but whose owner (the human being )has left it alone to live in a village far from the Woods!those spritual needs!

I think that Frost is talking about a spiritual journey that everyone takes during their lifetime. Everyone has to decide whether they are going to follow God or dismiss him! The narrow, less traveled, path would be following God because a lot of people don’t want to follow Him. In the last sentence of the poem, he says that the choice between the two roads makes all the difference. I agree with him. Believing in God does make all the difference. For a long time, I did whatever I felt like doing. Now I don’t let myself do certain things because I believe that God wouldn’t want me to. I feel completely free now. (more so than I ever felt before)
2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Make sure that you choose the right path. It makes all the difference in the world!

The “road not taken” is more than the decison that we make in live. What we do affect us and thoes around us. If we make one descion, than that would influence other, thus creating a chain effect. All of what we do, no matter how small and insignificant will affect every one. Going to work an extra tem mintues (for example) could help you avoid a fatal car accident or the cause of your death. The fact is, we dot not MAKE any descison. They are already made for us. Our path that we take in life have already been weave into the fabric of time. Though we can alter certain things (Like what we wear, who are friends are, are to name a few) our path have already been decided for us. We just try to make it as “comfotable” as we can. After all, life is like a piece of clothing. Sometimes certain “thread” comes lose so we just have to fix it. In the end, though we lose that “thread” we still have the entire piece of “clothing” or rather, our destiny. So you see, what happen to our lives will happen and there is nothing that we can to to prevent it.

I have enjoyed reading everyone’s comments on “The Road Not Taken.” I’m sure all of us have certain poets that inspire us or create a sense of self. When life becomes tough and depressing…I turn to art. Frost has inspired my senses and thus inspired the sense of self (of course—I now realize that its on a sliding scale).

“I should be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence I had a friend that had more in mind that way. That never mind in which way it went that he be sorry that he didn’t go the other way and he’d go along forever until eternity, sigh. He had a melancholy about everything that I don’t have you know I could mock anything out of my system.” – Frost

Frost wrote this poem with his friend, Edward Thomas in mind. Thomas moved from U.S. to England to seek higher oppurtunities and he thought he had made the wrong choice until he met Frost. Thomas wrote the greatest reviews for Frost “Boys Will” & “North of Boston”. There were two choices he could only choose one and he chose the one “less traveled by”.
Sometimes when we choose the ‘road less taken’ we assume it was the wrong one because things don’t just seem to work out, that road seems so risky and you never know what to expect. Makes me think that we should always strive to be different and not follow what everyone does and it may turn out for the better, just like it did for Thomas.

“I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

I strongley beleive that this poem is about freedom and about making choices. You should not always relie on others so you should make your own chocies. In many cases people don’t make the PERFECT decision but they went threw life trying as hard as they could. In my humble opinion i think that this is a wonderful poem and it is very overpowering to me

Mr. Womack,
You are correct that Frost was inspired to write the poem by his friend’s indecision. This is precisely why we should read the poem closely enough to hear Frost mocking the friend’s absurd desire to control the uncontrollable instead of just enjoying the road he is on. Read more about Frost and you will find that he admits what might have inspired him to write particular poems, but he will never give away the meaning. This is not because their are multiple meanings. It is because Frost only wanted the deserving to gain wisdom and delight. According to Frost, his poems are meant to “trip us headfirst into the boundless.” Saying that the poem can have multiple interpretations is being too careful not to trip. Frost taunts us to take risks. This is his true genius.

This poem means a lot to me because it is talking about being different and being ok with it. He said the he took the road less traveled by and it was the better choice! I watch the movie “The Dead Poet’s Society” and that poem with many others was quoted in the movie. Since then I have been really into Robert Frost and just poetry in general and from the poem I learned it is ok to be different and it is ok to take the path that most people don’t! Robert Frost was a genius!

“The Road Not Taken” is my favorite poem. It is inspirational, thought-provoking, profound in scope, and brilliantly wise in its simplicity. It is a magnificent metaphor for life. And, according to the poet himself, he intended NONE of that when he wrote it. Frost has gone on record very clearly that he wrote this poem in response to walks he often took with a close friend who was indecisive and always second-guessed his choices of country paths to take them down. Don’t believe me? Browse the internet, do a little research, pull up Frost’s own writings and check out his comments regarding the poem. I love the poem as much as anyone and more than most. I also agree with one who posted earlier that poetry can have multiple levels of meaning—both foor the poet and for the reader. Frost was a genius and, in my opinion, the greatest poet period. Lest someone think I am overstating his gift, let me remind you Frost won four—count’em, four—Pulitzer Prizes. He is the king. BUT—the simple truth is that in this instance, most of our responses reflect what we take from this poem and not what Frost put into it. And that is not a bad thing.

I think he chooses yellow wood for the color of the leaves, that is, the season, Fall or approaching Winter. And it’s in the Fall the paths are covered by fallen leaves. Does it mean he was downhill? His feeling (sad, old) ? But I’m still waiting for someone to shed some light on that.

I would imagine that Frost uses a “yellow” wood because yellow is a color often used to symbolize youth, hope, and life. The poem’s narrarator makes the decision of which path to choose when he is in his youth.

There can be many explanations about Robert Frost’s famous, “The Road Not Taken”. Many have, do, and will have different opinions and ideas about what Robert Frost was portraying, and perhaps that was his ultimate goal in this particular poem. To me, this is obviously a metaphor used to describe the paths you must choose and decide to take in life. Most especially, between right and wrong. Sure, there are smaller paths that will have no apparent value on your future (eg. Choosing a preference, rather than a life-changing decision), as well as larger, more difficult paths to choose from that will have a greater effect on your life. I think to most, this poem means more than just something folly and something that is taken lightly. And alot don’t have appreciation for things as such.

The decisions we all must make will and do have an effect on our daily lives, and our lives in the future. Whether that be taking a road that leads to hate, strife, jail, rape, and murderous, vile, disgusting, slanderous and demoralizing actions, or whether that be taking a road that leads to good health, happiness, joy, friendliness and a caring, giving, loving and prospering actions. Whatever the decisions that we encounter, whatever the difficult choices that we are forced to make, and whatever the paths that we must take, are bound to have some effect on our lives, and essentially the lives of others. Are we going to take the paths that allow us to give, help, and love? Or are we going to choose the paths that make us steal, be self-absorbed, and hate? The “Road Not Taken” is the one that is less traveled, the one that is right and good, the one that nobody takes because it is what the “world” thinks you should take. Most people don’t think about the consequences of the paths they take, before they take them. The “harvests” that you reap when you take the correct path far outweighs the path that has horrible circumstances that are associated with it.

This poem tells us about that point of time in Robert Frost’s life when he has to take a very momentous decision of leaving his homeland and setting out towards a very new and an unfamiliar land to acheive triumph and appeasement. we always have to face choices in our life which are confusing and the consequences of these choices are unknown. we always have to make choices which give us peace of mind because where there is peace of mind there is concentration, determination and committment and wherever these elements are there, there is success. the fruit of patience and hard – work is sweet. to get something we have to lose something.

Matthew,
I agree that Frost used “by” to maintain the rhyme scheme. However, I don’t think he would ever choose a word that could be taken another way just for rhyme. The beauty of his poetry is that it combines both perfection of technique and idea. Also, the idea of going “by” something that we shouldn’t go by is in other Frost poems. For instance, in “Desert Places” the speaker says of himself, “In a field I looked into going past.” Most read this as the speaker considering passing the field. Recognizing the similar theme in many Frost poems, it is safe to say that the speaker is looking into the field while walking by it. For more examples of this word play, check “On a Tree Fallen Across the Road,” as well as “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” Don’t forget, read the poems really have two speakers…the fallen narrator and Frost beneath (or above) him. Keep looking and you will see.

To me it sounds like he is choosing between two girls. One is a virgin and one is not. He chooses the virgin because he knows that if he changes his mind down the road, he can always get with the one that puts out.

It was a great analysis jelly, and it helped clear some things up for me, but there is one thing that I’m certain you messed up on. When Frost says “I took the one less traveled by” he means the same thing as “the one less traveled”. The only reason that he put “by” on the end of the line was in order to keep the A B A A B rhyme going. Therefore your whole theory on that is wrong. One more thing, does anybody know why he chose to use a ‘yellow’ wood. He could have picked any kind of wood he wanted, so why a yellow wood?

What Mr. Frost is saying to me is that do your own thing. Have your own meaning about life and what you make of it. If it turns out bad or good or whatever decisions you make in life, you took chances. And if you didn’t take these chances you will spend the rest of your life wondering if I should have or not. I can relate to this poem in my own life.

I am a poetry freak and I admire all types of serious poetry, but this poem is so tottaly beyond admiration.
With this poem I can relate to with my problems and it helps me find asolution to them because poetry I feel is a big role in my life. I am currently involved in alot of literature clubs including uil and this poem would tottaly rock if i took it to competition. thanx for reading my comment

i would like to know one thing is this poem ment to be a story wisetail or a plot for people to fallow? it seems that life is twisted and that is what leads us all. No? we all look for ansers and others to show us the way but there is no point in that. for they know what we know. so what is it that we know? i can’t say but it is the last thing on my mind befor i close my eyes. so it is the last thing on your mind. think for the time being but the is no ansers in the places we look. In all peaces of writing teachers tell us to look for meaning but is there any?

it seems my life has lead me hear to think and that there was only to paths in life but it can be said they will meet but will not end and someone will take the path you didn’t there is an end with out an end. and a path with out happyness.
there is no need for words in the lost part of the woods.

I’ve read some of the comments on this particular poem and while I have no wish to denigrate them, I do wish that the poem along with some of his other work such as ‘Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening’ were read in the spirit that they were probably written in. Just read them as pictures drawn by an observant countryman, without analysing the rivets out of them.

The road not taken to me is a metaphor about life, where many often choose the path travelled by most but if you chose the road not taken, it will make make all the difference. We should all try it some times. Robert Frost gave advice that can be used by many ages and ages to come.

THIS POEM IS VERY MEANINGFUL.
By saying that way leads on to way in my opinion means that which way we choose is on us. We can either choose right over wrong or wrong over right and once we have made the choice we can not go back.

The meter on this poem is really odd, and gave me some trouble with the scaning. Can anyone offer help there?

As for meaning, I thing that this poem is about life’s choices and how we view them, both at the time we make them and in hindsight. He is decisive at the moment of choice, telling himself he can come another day, yet he knows it’s not likely to happen. It is only much later that he thinks wistfully of the road not taken, wondering, much like a TV show contestant, what was behind door number two.

Finally, someone who validates my interpretation of the poem. I too, have always thought fdbfgnghmhjk,ghbdrtgrtherg. I just couldn’t put it into words. Thanks dick. I’m glad we both disagree with asshole. When he says, rehnyutliop’rtygyhuliujhyjktuikuti he just proves his ignorance, though at least he gets his ideas across more concisely than the brilliant jellyroll.

i beleive that this poem is truly about the decision about whether or not the right road has be taken, for this person to travel on, throughout the poem, it shows us, the readers, how he is feeling, by using the word ‘I’ it really does show emotion, this poem is very interesting, and if your examine it carefully, each time you will find another door, behind what robert frost is writing about, and how he is portraying a secrect message

…I found most of the comments far less interesting than the Frost poem itself. Jelly role nails it with his/her articulate observations; but the best comment may be the one most repeated. I’ll keep the first for another day.

Hi whoever previously stated that they didn’t have to get an idea across in one whole page I disagree with you. Some people (e.g. ME who’s doing the HSC this year) need extended analysis of this complex poem and not grunts of distaste, you should appreciate people’s willingness to contribute to the study of english.

moron.

P.S. Thanks to the intelligent person who posted a whole page reponse, it was actually helpful to my next assessment

this is one of my fav poems…it is so deep and has such grea meaning. he get into your soul with this poem.. so many times i have looked at this poem and found strenght to be drffirent 🙂 i hope that others findi it as helpful as i did.

As for my sarcasm…It tires me when people continue to agree with each other or pass off their interpretation as just another possibility. For those who actually read my response, I’d assume there were two general reactions. One= I now feel stupid. Two= See your response, Alex. Clearly, you are a close reader, though I admit, it isn’t hard to pick up on my sarcasm. Nonetheless, the fact that you are interested in my interpretation is further proof of the fact that some just want to get along, while others recognize that the only way to really get along is to get to the bottom of things and live our lives based on what we believe at our core. So, I don’t apologize for my passion, though I do wish my irony was like Frost’s…Hidden beneath a thick veneer or trees, stars, snow, and pretty paths. That said, this one is for you Alex:

The first person speaker is in the present telling a story about his past (the “decision”). He tells this story in the first three stanzas. Then, in the final stanza, the speaker predicts his future, in which he will look back at the “decision” and tell the story once again (“I shall be telling this with a sigh”). My thesis is that the speaker, in the present, recognizes that he, both in the past in and the future had and will have a fallen view of the “decision.” So, though the poem actually only has past and future tenses, we might assume the speaker in the telling the story of the entire poem is the authority, for he is the only one speaking directly to us. After we get to know this speaker we see that he is actually quite forlorn, and suddenly we can hear Frost’s tone of pathos for the speaker. This is where his voice and ideas really become apparent (On a side note, there are times when, after hours of intense study of Frost poem, I suddenly feel as though he is beside me, finally laughing with me rather than at me. It’s not until this happens to me that I know I can put the poem down.) So, according to the speaker, in the future he will say, “I-/I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” First, the repetition of “I” gives a tone of pride with a hint of bombast. As you have pointed out, Alex, this is not generally a likeable quality. That is strike one for the speaker as he imagines himself in the future. Strike two is the fact that there clearly is not a “road less traveled by.” The speaker, in the present, recalls, in stanza two that when he made the “decision” he “took the other, as just as fair,” meaning that both “roads” were pretty much the same. To further this, he says that they were both “worn…really about the same,” and they “equally lay/ in leaves no step had trodden black.” In the past the roads were pretty much the same, but in the future they will be remembered as being quite different. The rememberance will be that their was “one less traveled by,” insinuating that the future version of the speaker will imply to others (“telling this”) that he was an individual in the past, his own man, he made tough decisions that most others did not, “And that has made all the difference.” All of this leads me to believe that the speaker, in the present, recognizes his own flaws and how they will come out in his old age (“ages and ages hence”). He will regret his past decisions and attempt to hide this regret by bragging about decisions that weren’t that difficult in the first place. Perhaps he will not even be aware of this. He will be in denial about his sadness, ironically caused by his sentimental view of his life. I believe Frost is sayinging that behind a sentimental view of our lives there is a disconnect between the way we view ourselves and the reality of who we really are.
Apparently, the speaker has always had this problem. In the past, he was “sorry [he] could not travel both.” This is absurd a conundrum as being sorry we are not who we wish we were. Once a choice is made, there really was no choice. So to think too long about which “leave” covered road to take is not going to help just as much as lying to ourselves about our past is not going to help.
Now, when the past converges with the future, from the end of the third stanza to the beginning of the fourth, there is a moment of truth for the speaker. The only thing that the speaker seems really sure about in the poem is when he says, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.” Yes, just as the past meets the future, the present, in other words, the speaker “knows” something. “Way leads onto way,” there is one road we take, there was no choice to begin with, and so we needn’t dwell on it. But, as quickly as the “knowing” comes, so does the doubting of both the past self and the imagined future self.
Here is the ultimate irony: the speaker, telling his story of his past and future, is also not in the moment. He is feeling badly about his past absurdity and worrying about his future absurdity. Now, even he has the same flaw as his past and future self. How absurd! This is the point when I look next to me and Frost is smiling at the poem. Picture him looking down at the speaker, shaking his head at this sad case. The speaker isn’t an authority on anything at all, he is just a character in a poem, and he is quite fallen and depressing.
Ultimately, I don’t think Frost despises this speaker, he just pities him a bit. For ultimately, the speaker is not dwelling on any “road less traveled by,” he is more focused on “THE ROAD NOT TAKEN.” This is the one that we all tend to dwell on.
As for Frost, he did not take “the one less traveled,” he took “the road less travelled by.” In other words, he travelled in the middle of the road, not on the side of it, or “by” it. To travel “by” a road is pass it without really noticing it. It is to drive while under the influence of sentimentality, while regretting the past and worrying about the future. It is to not enjoy the moment, to miss the small details around you and avoid thinking about how they add up. It is to avoid living, to not be fully engaged, and to miss the whole point, while just seeing what we want to see, never feeling quite right about it, and missing the transendence of what is right in front of us.
According to most of the interpretations about this poem, the road that Frost is on is the real THE ROAD NOT TAKEN.

Thanks for motivating me to write this, Alex. I’ll see you on the road and we’ll stop for coffee, and perhaps we’ll read another Frost poem together. I’m currently working on “Neither Out Far Nor In Deep.”

This poem has so much meaning to me and i appreciate the true meaning i hope all of you do too. Frost shows so much expression through his his choice of words. Frost, was and is clearly the best of the best in his division!

This poem, that has been torn to shreds with analysis , is so starkly a metaphor for life- (by far its most dominant interpretation)
-that it would be great if it was just a poem recounting a trip along a garden path that diverged in the wood!

I first read this poem in a 9th grade english class and I have loved it ever since. To me it conveys the uselessness of regret. Frost speaks of never returning to the same divide in the path he takes and seems a bit remorseful,yet obsolete in his decision.

The road not taken. Many people in today’s world are trying to flow with the crowd. They want to do what everyone else is doing; wear what everyone else is wearing; be what everyone else is being. People today are not their own thinkers. Not only that, but they want the “easy way out.” The world is getting lazier and lazier. Why work hard and get good grades when you can cheat off another person’s homework? The answer is improvement. That should be everyone’s goal in life; leave better than you came. These the things that come to mind when Robert Frost ends his poem with, “And that has made all the difference.” Our hard work and individuality, in the end, makes all the difference.

This is an absolutely great poem. I am only in 8th grade and I was asssigned to read this poem.

This poems clearly states that we have to make decisions in life. We can either take safe choices-the road often traveled by or the risky ones-the beautiful but less traveld by one. Its up to you on what you want to decide. This is one of Frost’s easy poems. It is easy to understand the meaning.

I would like to put forward the use of a trick scientists have been using for decades. What is Simpler/More Likely??
When there are two theories that satisfies a phenomenon/question/etc. the simpler is more likeky. Some people might think it is wrong to use such a technique on an artform, espescially poetry. But, Frost was a human, and unless he wanted it to be specificaly confusing, he would have one meaning in mind. Assumeing he did not set out to make a multi-purpose ( NOT MULTI-LAYERD), I was fully set on taking the literal view of taking a harder path, yada yada. On reading jelly rolls coment however, I puase. Some of what he said makes since, but he throws so much bombastity into it, that it’s hard to make out what he truly meant other than “I realise I’m arrogant, there’s a reason to. Mindless worms…”
He asks us to ask him for his interpretation. Alright, please enlighten us O great poetry guru! Be to us for poetry as Einstien was for physics! Let the common peoples see what you do!
And for all of the sarcasm dripping off each word, I really am quite interested in an alternitive analysis other than the ones above.

This poem represents life as a journey of choices. The forks are choices you come to and the road you go down depends on what decision you make. The lesser traveled road is the road a leader would want to take, someone who doesn’t follow the crowd.

The Road Not Taken is the one we all dare to travel down. It is an adventure, the path of learning and knowledge. New discoveries are made there if we dare to go there. It takes courage, and faith in oneself to dare to travel upon it. It is an open trail to everyone but a harder more difficult one. It is an eye-opener, a soul seeker, a place to reflect and build. If you dare to take it and accomplish all that you set out to do…then leave all the buliding blocks for the next one to build upon. Divine wisdom comes from the spirit of a man that came from his Great Creator.

Do any of you believe in anything? There are not many meanings in this poem. Frost is a genius, because he, like Shakespeare provides two ways of reading his works: the fallen view for the sentimentalists and the wise view for those who have the conviction and awareness to search for truth by noticing the details. The poem is not called the road less travelled by. It is called The Road Not Taken. Why do so many think it is called the former? Because they see the world the way they want to see it (Disney fans no doubt) rather than the way it actually is. These are the people who have the thing framed on their wall, as if to express to the world that they are proud nonconformists (ego), or to comfort themselves by convincing themselves that their fuck-ups are justified by their courage (ego). These are the people that see two roads that look pretty much the same, and then pat themselves on the back for choosing the difficult one. Ultimately, the most difficult path is the one where you admit the truth about yourself, by not glorifying your past decisions, but by being happy with yourself no matter if you made good ones or bad ones. That is the road not taken by most, and that is the road Frost would like you to take so you can stop living in denial and start getting real. I know what you relativists out there are thinking. This guy sounds like an arrogant prick and if he’s right about Frost then he too is an elitist. All I’ll say to that is that nothing truly worthwile is easy, nothing truly true is accessible to people who don’t search every nook and cranny, and the only way to join the club is to stop saying everybody has a right to their opinion and start believing you might just be right. If you’d like my analysis of the poem, just ask.

This poem produces a multitude of implications, which each indivicual can interpret to his or her own liking. The interpretation that I predominately tend to deem acceptable embraces the thought of Frost, later in life, telling this story to others, and embellishing the details or facts to seem more attractive. However, to each his own.

According to me frost hads depicted the poem very well , the main theme of the poem stands out that you got to be one traveller,you can’t choose two paths and walk on them, but there will always be curosity about the other path, as it is human tendency to be curious abt things which they are unaware of. Robert frost is one writer who potarys a problem and explore the many paradoxical issues it involves, he never says this is right or wrong, he just puts 2 opposing ideas both are right
hence in short he potarys society as it is with diffrtent views

there are many meanings in this poem no doubt and we each interpret in or own way. But I look at it as simply as I can…. break it down. the roads are obviously lifes choices to me. with the last line indicating the lesser traveled or harder road is usually more rewarding..or the most dificult choices lead to the most reward…we then again can say that this is but a few words a man wrote years ago.ofering words of wisdom or entertainment.

I disagree with the notion that one would probably regret a second chance. Personally, I had a second-chance to study in academia and attain long lasting dreams of high achievment in study.

Specifically, after graduating in my 20s at a top public university, I earned only Bs and Cs. It was a difficult transtional time in my life. Nonetheless, in spite of the vigors and obligations of life, I forced my conditions to allow for pursuit of another undergraduate degree some years later.

In this second opportunity to study and achieve, I earned all A’s and graduated with the most prestigious distinctions. It was a personal achievment for which I had long dreamed. To be sure, there was no time where I regretted my choice to study another 5 years. Indeed, I left my career frozen with no increase in experience and therefore earnings, and I worked at night for mizerly wages barely capable of supporting me despite a college degree from a top school. And in the final analysis, it was worth every minute of study and every lost dollar.

Therefore, it is clear not everyone would regret a second opportunity to make a correct choice. In addtion, I suspect if everyone maintained the willingness to “righ” a past “wrong,” then no one would regret the opportunity to make that “wong” “right.”

Forgive me if I am completely misplaced because it has been quite some time since I last visited American Literature–and Robert Frost.

However, I sense that many commentators here have overlooked some revealing and specific language Frost intentionally employed in this poem. As a result of this oversight, these commentators have too strongly asserted that Frost mocked romantic ideals of nastalgia and life.

Clearly, there exists a potential argument that Frost may have been offering a caliber of criticism and satire. For example, the suggestion that we could save the first road for another day: “Oh, I kept the first for another day!” However, this is a flawed argument because it is possible to revisit a life-altering decision. In fact, many have altered the course of their lives in midstream by revisiting decisions. To offer contemporary example, a mother in her mid-40s earing a college degree after dropping out of highschool at the age of 17. Clearly, this typ of example was less available in the 19th century, yet others examples of “second choices” did exist–such as accumulating a fortune in ranching or mining. Still other examples exist. Therefore, it is possible that Frost may have implicitly offered this “Reality Americana” to reader–and not cynically dismiss the idea that a revisiting of a life-altering decision was impossible.

Furthermore, to strongly assert that Frost is cynically criticizing those romanic idealists who at times enjoy nastalgic recollections, or believe they can travel 2 roads in life is misplaced. By offering this sentiment, the argument sustains a very difficult position of explaining away Frost’s last sentence: “And that has made all the difference.” Without doubt, it is a vulnerable argument to convey that Frost communicated cynicism and mockery of romantic ideals when at the crescendo of his poem he produces the most romantic of all notions–to engage in probably the most personally challenging of life-trajectories. According to Frost, this engagement seemed to matter the most, and offer the greatest of sattisfaction.

To be sure, it is a difficult endeavour to explanin why Frost applied this sentence to his peom without accepting that he was embracing a romantic and old American ideal of hard work, perseverance, and sattisfaction in challenging oneself. Unless the position is advanced that Frost simply and universally misled readers with romanic works while fevershly mocking life and choice, it must be accepted he was celebrating the moment of life-altering choice, and the decision to pursue the more unique life path. Without doubt, if the assumption that the more unique life-road is more unique because it is more difficult, Frost is also celebrating hard work and the decision to engage in this work

The position that Frost simply and universally misled readers with romanic works while fevershly mocking life and choice is possible, but unlikely. In fact, Frost specifically reveals that he will probably never return to this divergence because life will not avail him the opportunity: “Yet Knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back.” If Frost was mocking life and our inability to exercise choice by offering romantic words and notions, it is once again difficult to explain why he specfically indicates he will not be capable of returning to this divergence. This specific assertion seems to suggest that he is not hiding a message–that he is forthright and transparent. Otherwise, it would seem Frost would have concealed this inability to return to the divergence. The fact he clealry asserts this inability weakens the notion that he is mocking life and the availability of choice (and perhaps free will)–as if somehow implying we have no choice.

Clearly, Frost states he is incapable of a return to the divergence because of the vigors of life. For this reason, it seems readers should be slightly more literal and less symbolic in analyzing Frost if the assumption is accepted that he is employing some degree of consistency. Clearly this assumption makes sense: a poet’s message often reflects consistency. Indeed, a poet would probably not write of God and then alter paths midstream and write of the culture of ants. The poet would continue writing of God. In short, and with the application of this logically parallel example, Frost is offering his feelings freely and transparently–thus the argument for hidden and symbolic mockery is not there.

There is little doubt, Frost forthrightly offers his perspective on the choices of life in The Road Not Taken. Frost specifically asserts the poem’s narrator (perhaps Frost himself) is at a difficult position in life, and a life-altering decision is necessary. He analyzes both options with depth, and realizes he will not sustain a second opportunity to produce this choice. After careful deliberation, the narrator chooses a trajectory that is relatively less employed. This lesser relative employment perhaps infers that it is a more difficult journey. Yet, in the end, Frost suggests that this relatively unique trajectory (and perhaps more difficult endeavour) offered him the greatest of sattisfaction probably due to not only its uniqueness, but its challenges as well: “And it has made all of the difference.”

I believe that it portrays the contrast in the two spiritual walks of life very accurately, but in a way that others may be able to comprehend more easily. I have taken the road less traveled on, the road of Jeus Christ, and I live as a Christian. The road you take really does make all of the difference.
God Bless,
Nikki

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Poem Information

Poet:Robert FrostPoem:1.
The Road Not Taken
Volume:Mountain IntervalYear: Published/Written in 1916